In the wake of the TicketCity Bowl's invitation to Penn State to play in the Jan. 2 postseason football game in Dallas, several Nittany Lion team members held a players-only meeting on Sunday night, according to several sources.

Penn State sophomore linebacker Khairi Fortt was the only player to confirm the meeting publicly. He did so via Twitter, with a post on Sunday evening that read: "squad meeting."

Shortly thereafter, following a tweet by senior teammate Devon Still directing him to do so, Fortt removed his Twitter post.

Penn State (9-3) is slated to face the University of Houston (12-1) of Conference USA at noon in the Cotton Bowl in the first bowl game of 2012. This will be the second year the TicketCity Bowl is played.

While Penn State sources indicated there was a meeting, there were conflicting reports if a vote was taken and, if so, about what.

Shortly after the official announcement was made, many Nittany Lions took to the Internet to express their disgust with their placement via Twitter, including:

Freshman cornerback Adrian Amos: "Oh, I guess we didn't go 9-3."

Junior wide receiver Justin Brown: "Might as well play against concord high PSU vs. CHS."

The Penn State players' team meeting came after the Nittany Lions fell significantly in bowl projections despite their record and a runner-up finish in the Big Ten Conference's Leaders division and a three-way tie for the conference's second-best in-conference record. Under typical circumstances, the TicketCity Bowl is slotted to go the Big Ten's seventh-best team.

However, Iowa (4-4 in the Big Ten, 7-5 overall), Ohio State (3-5, 6-6) and Northwestern (3-5, 6-6) were all selected ahead of Penn State when the bowls made their selection on Sunday. Penn State defeated all three of those teams in 2011.

Iowa is headed to the Insight Bowl, Ohio State to the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl and Northwestern to the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

Related coverage

• Penn State Football: Lions Disappointed with 'Ticket' to Dallas (Dec. 4, 2011)

• StateCollege.com's Penn State football page