The Penn State Nittany Lions are having a very successful, if unspectacular season, so far. Their defense has kept them in games and their offense has been productive enough to earn them lots of wins. It hasn't always been pretty (like their snow-filled win over Illinois this past Saturday, for example), but more often than not, they've gotten it done.
As a result, they might find themselves playing in a pretty big bowl game towards the end of this year, or maybe even the beginning of next year if they're lucky. Penn State currently has the best conference record in the Big Ten at 5-0, but the Nittany Lions will need to navigate a very tough late-season schedule, with games against Nebraska, Ohio State and Wisconsin.
Everybody has a an idea of where each team might finish, and SB Nation has compiled them into one easy-to-read 2011 NCAA Bowl Projections chart. Nobody in that chart seems to agree on the fate of Penn State, because the four different projections have the Nittany Lions playing in four different games. They could be playing in the Gator Bowl, the Insight Bowl, the Texas Bowl or the or the Outback Bowl, according to these projections. Or something completely different if they're wrong, which is something I can envision being the case as well.
The Big Ten is well-represented in these projections, with the frontrunners for the BCS Bowl spot being Nebraska, Michigan State and Wisconsin. But there are other schools which will have a chance to represent the conference throughout bowl season as well.