Avoiding Bowl Rush : Penn State Signs Up Now for Blockbuster

Penn State does not play a game until September, but already the Nittany Lions know where they will be New Year’s Day: in Miami . . . in Joe Robbie Stadium . . . in the 1993 Blockbuster Bowl.

Desperate for a Jan. 1 game and payoff, frozen out of the newly formed bowl coalition, Penn State officials had little choice but to commit Wednesday to the Blockbuster, which itself could be extinct by this time next year. In an unusual arrangement made necessary by Penn State’s unusual predicament, the Nittany Lions did what they could to salvage the 1992-93 postseason.

First, Penn State had to find a place to play on New Year’s Day. Because it is not yet a full-fledged member of the Big Ten Conference, the Nittany Lions are ineligible for a Rose Bowl appearance until the 1993-94 season. They also could not take advantage of the Big Ten’s new ties with the Holiday or Citrus bowls.

Penn State’s independent status also cost it a place in the powerful bowl alliance, which goes into effect this season and features the Orange, Cotton, Sugar and Fiesta bowls and commitments from Notre Dame and the Atlantic Coast, Big Eight, Big East, Southwest and Southeastern conferences.

In short, the Nittany Lions, as well as other major independents such as Louisville and East Carolina, were left out of the bowl mix.

Under the arrangement announced Wednesday, Penn State needs only to win an NCAA-required six games to qualify for the Blockbuster and receive a payoff likely to equal or exceed the $1.8 million the bowl paid its teams last season. Barring an unexpected collapse, the highly regarded Nittany Lions, who finished 11-2 and ranked No. 3 in the country last year, should have little trouble meeting the six-victory criterion.

Jim Tarman, Penn State’s athletic director, told the Associated Press that the school’s unprecedented decision was “not inappropriate, given circumstances that forced Penn State to assume an aggressive and accelerated posture toward the postseason.”

Tarman was half right. Penn State needed a bowl game, but no school has ever signed such an agreement almost eight months before kickoff.

As scheduling fate would have it, the Blockbuster is in the same time slot as the Citrus, which includes the Big Ten runner-up. Penn State, a participant in the inaugural game in 1991, could also become one of the last teams to play in the Blockbuster. After failing in their bid to join the bowl alliance, Blockbuster organizers have said they might pull the plug after this season’s game.