Penn State football: Which bowl would Nittany Lions have played?

College football bowl games handed out all their invitations Sunday, but one of the programs not receiving an invite were the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Because of NCAA sanctions, which were handed down after the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal, Penn State's season ended with a 8-4 overall record and no possibility of winning a Big Ten title and the Rose Bowl invitation that comes with it.

However, if Penn State were eligible for the postseason it would have a lot of bowl options, says Examiner.com's Kevin McGuire, who broke down all the possibilities on Monday.

The most likely destination for the Nittany Lions, if they didn't win the Big Ten championship game, would have been the Gator Bowl, where they would have faced the Mississippi State Bulldogs, or the Outback Bowl.

The biggest what-if scenario, however, is winning the Big Ten Championship.

If Penn State were not serving a postseason band but Ohio State was, then Penn State would have played in the Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis on Saturday, against Nebraska. Nebraska, of course, defeated Penn State each of the two times the schools have faced since Nebraska joined the Big Ten last year, including this year's game in Lincoln. Would the third time have been the charm for Penn State?

If Penn State did win the Big Ten it would have been the program's third league championship, its first under head coach Bill O'Brien.