STATE COLLEGE – Although the berths in the Bowl Championship Series will not be officially announced until 8 tonight on FOX television, it looks like the Fiesta Bowl will go with an Iowa-Boise State matchup. That would send Penn State to the Capital One Bowl, mostly likely against LSU of the SEC.
That scenario would then pit Texas Christian against ACC champion Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl.
The Capital One Bowl is played at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, Fla. On Jan. 1. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. and the game is televised on ABC. Capital One has the first pick of Big Ten teams who are in a BCS bowl. Conference champion Ohio State is committed to the Rose Bowl.
Penn State (ranked 10th) played in the 2002 Capital One Bowl, losing 13-9 to No. 19 Auburn. Under coach Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions played in the Citrus Bowl – the precursor to the Capital One Bowl – in 1987, a 35-10 loss to Clemson, in 1993, a 31-13 win over Tennessee, and in 1997, a 21-6 loss to Florida.
Sunday afternoon’s chronology includes:
–Penn State is holding its regular-season ending banquet, hosted by the State College Quarterback Club, at The Penn Stater Conference Center on the Penn State campus.
–The Fiesta Bowl committee, headed by longtime executive director John Junker, headed into meetings at 2 p.m. to debate its selection. One report on Friday indicated that Junker wanted to select the Nittany Lions, but was facing resistance from other committee members.
–The final BCS standings will be completed by 3 p.m. and sent to bowl committees.
–The Capital One Bowl should receive confirmation of which teams the BCS is selecting by 7 p.m. A committee of roughly 200 members will vote on the two teams.
