Defeats Alter Race For Bowls Ohio State, Kansas State Improve Status After Penn State, Asu Suffer Setbacks

In the wild, wild world of the bowl alliance, Penn State’s loss became Ohio State’s gain and Arizona State’s defeat gave Kansas State a big boost.

Translation?

It looks like the ninth-ranked Buckeyes (10-2) are headed for a matchup against No. 4 Florida State (10-1) in the Sugar Bowl and the 10th-ranked Wildcats (10-1) will play No. 15 Syracuse (9-3) in the Fiesta Bowl.

That, of course, applies only if No. 2 Nebraska plays No. 3 Tennessee in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 2. But first, the Cornhuskers (11-0) must beat No. 14 Texas A&M (9-2) in the Big 12 title game and the Vols must beat No. 11 Auburn (9-2) in the SEC championship, both set for Saturday.

“We know in this business that decisions shouldn’t and can’t be made until the title games are played,” said John Junker, the Fiesta Bowl’s executive director. “There are too many unexpected things that can happen.”

Such is the state of the alliance bowl picture without No. 1 Michigan in the mix.

The Wolverines (11-0), of course, are headed for a Rose Bowl matchup against No. 8 Washington State (10-1) on Jan. 1. Should Michigan win, all the alliance maneuvering won’t matter since the Wolverines would wrap up their first national title since 1948.

On Saturday, Penn State’s 12th-ranked Nittany Lions (9-2) dropped out of the alliance picture with a 49-14 loss at No. 25 Michigan State. Penn State, which beat Ohio State earlier this season, was headed for the Sugar, but will likely go to the Citrus Bowl and play No. 7 Florida (9-2).

“Hey, nobody ever said it was going to be a field of roses all the time,” Penn State coach Joe Paterno said.

On Friday night, No. 17 Arizona State lost to Arizona 28-16 and fell out of Fiesta Bowl contention. The Fiesta, looking for a team with a large fan following, is leaning toward Kansas State - the Wildcats guarantee selling 35,000 tickets - over a No. 5 UCLA (9-2) or a No. 7 North Carolina (10-1).

What happens, though, if Nebraska (11-0) or Tennessee (10-1) lose on Saturday?

If the Huskers lose and the Vols win, the possible lineup could look like this: Florida State vs. Tennessee (Orange); Texas A&M vs. Ohio State (Sugar) and Nebraska or Kansas State vs. Syracuse (Fiesta).

If the Vols lose and Huskers win, look for: Nebraska vs. Florida State (Orange); Ohio State vs. Auburn (Sugar) and Kansas State vs. Syracuse (Fiesta).

Conference champions from the ACC (Florida State), Big East (Syracuse), Big 12 and SEC gain automatic alliance spots, and two teams are at-large selections. The Orange gets the first two picks, the Sugar has the third and fifth choices and the Fiesta the fourth and sixth.

In other bowl chatter, Notre Dame (7-5), a 23-22 winner over Hawaii on Saturday night, could end up in the Sun Bowl against Arizona State.

Otherwise, Notre Dame will likely play in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., against LSU, which lost to Notre Dame 24-6 two weeks ago.

One other scenario: Notre Dame wouldn’t mind playing 7-4 Virginia Tech in the Jan. 1 Gator Bowl. But that is contingent on North Carolina earning an at-large alliance bowl berth. Though the Tar Heels are 10-1, that’s a long shot.