But it won't be until Dec. 6, when bowl bids are officially tendered and accepted, that the Nittany Lions will learn whether their more impressive romp was enough to land a plum spot in a BCS bowl ahead of Iowa, which tied Penn State for second place in the league. (Both teams finished 10-2 overall and 6-2 in conference play.)

At stake is a megabucks ($18.3 million payout) trip to either Glendale, Ariz., for the Fiesta Bowl, or possibly to Miami for the Orange Bowl. BCS rules stipulate that only two teams from a particular conference can appear in the BCS national championship game or one of the four BCS bowls, and Big Ten champion Ohio State (10-2, 7-1) already has had its ticket to the Rose Bowl punched.

If Penn State goes to a BCS bowl, Iowa will be relegated to an attractive but less prestigious postseason destination, the Capital One Bowl in Orlando on Jan. 1. The same holds true in reverse if the Hawkeyes snag one of the coveted BCS spots at Penn State's expense.

No wonder partisans for both teams made stump speeches following their victories like politicians campaigning for high office.

Iowa wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos began the debate by saying, "We're 10 points from being perfect. We deserve a BCS bowl."

Penn State's game finished a couple of hours later, allowing enough time for coach Joe Paterno to prepare his rebuttal.

"What do you want me to say?" Paterno said when asked at what bowl site he thought his team would usher in the New Year. "Pick us. Pick us. Pick us.

"Maybe I should get on the phone, call somebody and say, 'You owe me,' or 'You might find a horse's head in your bed [if you don't pick the Nits].' "

Hey, references to "The Godfather" are appropriate for a lot of occasions, but especially so when it comes to Penn State football. Approaching his 83rd birthday next month and in his 44th season as head coach, JoePa is the closest thing the college game has to a Marlon Brando equivalent, and his star appeal alone might be enough to nudge the Nits ahead of Iowa as far as some bowl committee is concerned. Go ahead, make him an offer he can't refuse.

Penn State already leads Iowa in the Associated Press poll, moving up from 13th to 12th with 773 points, just ahead of No. 13 Iowa with 766 points. But Iowa is No. 11 in the new BCS standings, and Penn State No. 13.

In a perfectly fair world, Iowa - which won its head-to-head meeting with Penn State, 21-10, on Sept. 26 at State College - would hold the advantage over the Nits in any tiebreaker. But preferential bowl bids aren't entirely based on that singular consideration; tradition counts, as do high-visibility personalities and a team's history of traveling well. Penn State would seem to rank ahead of Iowa on all counts, although its hordes of free-spending fans don't hold too much of an advantage over the Hawkeyes in that respect.

Underscoring how tight the situation is between Penn State and Iowa is, one ESPN college football analyst, Mark Schlabach, has predicted it will be Iowa vs. Boise State in the Fiesta, with Penn State taking on Ole Miss in the Capital One. Schlabach's colleague, Bruce Feldman, has it exactly the opposite.

Also complicating matters is the fact that, as of now, there are six undefeated teams ahead of both Penn State and Iowa. Two of those are from non-BSC conferences, No. 4 Texas Christian (11-0) and No. 6 Boise State (11-0), which both could land invitations to BCS bowl games.

The Orange Bowl is committed to the Atlantic Coast Conference champion, which will be either No. 7 Georgia Tech (10-1) or No. 15 Clemson (8-3), and is casting covetous glances at TCU. That seemingly pits Penn State against Iowa for the Fiesta, which appears to favor a matchup of one of the Big Ten teams against Boise State.

Unless No. 20 Ole Miss (8-3), which is coming off impressive victories over Tennessee and LSU, stubs its toe in its regular-season finale at Mississippi State, the Rebels figure to be headed to the Magic Kingdom for a date against whichever Big Ten team loses out on a BCS bid.