Exactly what the season needed after two weeks of the Sandusky case. Even with all the distractions and pending NCAA investigations, Penn State stuck to their strengths (ground game, defense, kicker) for their second win in Columbus in the last four years. They've earned at least share of the division title, and the winner of next week's game at Madison will play Michigan State for the conference championship. At 9-3, they've already surpassed my on-the-field expectations. We'll just see what the future brings...

While the NCAA could limit Penn State’s ability to play in postseason bowl games, the existence of an investigation likely won’t matter for the bowl selection committees this year.

“Penn State is going to bring fans, and that’s what it’s going to boil down to,” said Michael Smith, who covers college sports for SportsBusiness Journal. “Penn State brings fans and sells tickets. I think if there was any concern about that, the 107,000 plus that came out to the Nebraska game allayed any fears as to whether fans will show up. The biggest concern bowl directors have is selling tickets. It appears Penn State will maintain the fan support it has always enjoyed.”

Sponsors might be a different story, Smith said.

The NCAA action will make some of them reconsider their association with Penn State, which, without a doubt, is under a negative light.

“On the other hand, staying with the school and being able to say we stood by the school through hard times, that can turn into a market platform for sponsors,” Smith said. “After a time passes, a sponsor can promote the fact that it sat by the school, and it’s going to be here for the good times.”

I would think it'd be a PR nightmare to ban Penn State from a bowl. I don't see it happening.

Question: what percentage of the crowd was Huskers rooters?

Would those PSU fans at that game be as willing to travel for the game as they were to drive the ten minutes from home to Beaver Stadium? (Why invest in the plane fare, hotel, food for a school that has utterly failed you?)

touch

Or to have them in one.

You really think the general public is viewing Penn State as a whole as irreputable and deserving of some kind of sanctions (and not just the people involved, the majority of which are no longer there)?

You might be right, but I think since Paterno has been let go, and the two who are charged with perjury, the public may have a more sympathetic view of the university as a whole (and the football program) now, and especially as opposed to that way it was perceived before Paterno was let go.

I know that I agree with you, personally. I also agree that a bowl ban would only really punish the players, who had nothing to do with this. I also know that there's a substantial percentage of the population who just throw a "Penn St." blanket over the entire scandal and would raise bloody hell if they were invited.

Also, NCAA sanctions tend to affect plenty of players who had nothing to do with past infractions.

"And David reached his hand into his bag and took a stone and slung it. Striking the Philistine on the head. The stone sank into his forehead and he fell to the ground"

I normally don't mind LSU - they're usually among the more likable of the major college powerhouses. But for BCS-busting purposes, I will be rooting for UGA this week as if I had actually attended classes with Squirrgle, Busty, Derris, Stu, Bloor and LooGAR. GO DAWGS!

Least shocking news of all time: Corch Irving Meyers takes Ohio State job

Ditto.