The roar of the Lions: Big Ten down? Who cares? It's a hell of a lot of fun, and Penn State��Penn State!��is one win from taking the wildest race in the land

Don't be surprised if a thank you card already has arrived in Joe Paterno's mailbox from Bo Schembechler, the crusty old Big Ten troglodyte. The missive likely was appreciative that Paterno's Penn State team has kept at least some vestige of order in a Big Ten that has been--at least in the eyes of the older generation--spiraling out of control.

With points and yards accumulating at record rates, and the conference resembling the old WAC more than the grim outfit that turned the forward pass into a mortal sin, Penn State proved last Saturday that defense still has a place in Midwestern football.

On a rare balmy November afternoon in State College, the mood of the second-largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history (109,865) matched the weather. The students hopped and sang. The Nittany Lions mascot did a dead-on Napoleon Dynamite dance routine. The alums even shimmied a bit. And for good reason. The Penn State offense frolicked for 520 total yards, and the Nittany Lions stifled Wisconsin's signature ground attack (minus-11 yards) in claiming a 35-14 win in a battle of once-beaten conference leaders.

The win made a bit of sense out of a Big Ten race that has been the most entertaining in college football and has established new levels of excitement in a conference heretofore known for bloody noses and broken facemasks. While the SEC has been mired in defensive tar pits, the Pac-10 is playing for second, the Big 12 is Texas and the 11 dwarfs, and ACC fans still can't figure out who's in which division, the Big Ten is like an extended Oktoberfest, with each week revving up the celebration a little more.

And it's not over yet. Though Penn State is on top of the conference standings at 6-1, the crazy season still could produce a four-way knot at the top if a few quite possible scenarios come to pass the next two weekends. Ohio State still is in the hunt, even though it lost in October to Penn State. Michigan has a shot, despite its early-season dive. Wisconsin, even with its trouble in State College, could claim part of the title, too. Even Northwestern has a chance.

"We all thought in August the league was extremely balanced and wide-open," says Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, whose Hawkeyes dropped out of the hunt last week with a loss to Northwestern.

Penn State now needs to win at Michigan State on November 19 and it will lock up its first conference title since 1994. Though Paterno is adamant that he doesn't pay attention to what the media writes or says about his team--"I don't have the time," he says--he has a great sense of satisfaction in this year's performance. It was obvious during his postgame news conference last week, when he critiqued one writer's sharp duds, cracked wise with questioners and seemed happier than he has been in three years.

Penn State is one play against Michigan from perfection and a whole lot better than it was the past two seasons, when it was a combined 7-16. Remember when many were calling for Paterno to retire to the Old Coaches Home?

"I probably had more confidence we were close (to winning) than any of you guys did," he said to the media after the win. "I had a good feeling about the team."

At a time when most Big Ten defensive coordinators are ready to flay Purdue coach Joe Tiller for introducing the spread attack to the conference, Paterno has assembled a team that combines the old and new into a winning formula. The Nixon-era rock-ribbed defense still is there, but it's paired with a glasnost offense. Paterno asserts that the spread concepts the Lions have embraced this year date to his days at Brooklyn Prep. "I was a tailback in the shotgun in 1944," he says. "All the stuff we do now, I did then."

Maybe, but it has taken 61 years for it to show up in Happy Valley. Just ask Michael Robinson, the fifth-year senior quarterback who has weathered so many position changes and wait-your-turn edicts from Paterno that he contemplated transferring. Robinson hung in, and against Wisconsin he ran for 125 yards and threw for 238 in pushing his total offense figure this season to a school-record 2,687 yards.

"We went from running the ball up the middle every play to spreading it out with four wideouts," Robinson says. "We went empty (in the backfield) once this year. We haven't done that. It helps that (tailback) Tony Hunt can run without a fullback and I can do some things running."

Some things? Robinson has been described by one enemy defensive coordinator as "Curtis Enis with the ability to throw," a reference to the former standout tailback who last played for the Nittany Lions in 1997. And this year, Paterno has let Robinson go, living with his imprecise passing (he was 13-of-28 with two ugly interceptions against the Badgers) and allowing coordinator Galen Hall the freedom that predecessor Fran Ganter never had.

It's all part of the new Big Ten. Multi-talented quarterbacks such as Robinson, Michigan State's Drew Stanton, Ohio State's Troy Smith and Northwestern's Brett Basanez are piling up stats as they run offenses that spread personnel from sideline to sideline. After last weekend, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Minnesota, Penn State and Northwestern ranked in the top 25 in scoring offense, and the Spartans, Gophers and Wildcats were in the top 10 in total offense.

"A lot of it is quarterbacks," says Ohio State coach Jim Tressel. "You look around the league and almost everybody has a good situation."

Yeah, except for the defensive coaches. Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley reveled in standout end Tamba Hall's four sacks against Wisconsin and how his ferocious front four can regularly pillage pockets without much blitz help. But Bradley was upset by a 65-yard fourth quarter pass from John Stocco to Jonathan Orr that helped set up a touchdown that closed the gap to 28-14. No doubt Bradley has visions of Stanton unfurling an aerial circus.

"We see personnel groupings that are different every week, and opponents are doing different things out of them every week," Bradley says. "Everything keeps evolving."

So does Penn State. It was quite a scene at Beaver Stadium, which has been turned into a rollicking juke joint by an inspired white-clad student body and an inspiring team. Students donned sombreros and begged for a Fiesta Bowl invitation. Representatives from the Orange and Sugar Bowls shook hands and slapped backs. But the Rose Bowl was nowhere to be found. That's because Pasadena is the site for the BCS championship game next January, and despite Penn State's 9-1 record, nobody from the Big Ten likely will be going to the league's ancestral postseason home this season.

That might not thrill the old school, but if you're going to play off-Broadway, it's best to put on a show that's entertaining. That's the Big Ten this year.

"Having a team in the top three or four in the BCS is a good thing, but only for one team," Tressel says. "Usually what's best for the league is what's best for the most people."

Right now, the time is best for the Nittany Lions, who take a week off before trying to complete a remarkable resurgence that would vindicate Paterno.

"We haven't accomplished anything yet," Robinson says.

Oh, but they have. In a suddenly wide-open Big Ten, they have managed to adapt to the new while still embracing the old.

You think Woody Hayes is smiling somewhere. OK, maybe not about the spread offense but definitely about the defense.

Eight is great, but nine is finer

There's still a chance for the Big Ten to place nine teams in bowl games this season. That would make 2005 one of the most successful seasons ever by a conference. The best before this season:

9

SEC, 2000

8

Big 12, 2001, '02, '03; Big Ten, 2003; SEC, 1998, '99, 2001.

7

ACC, 2002; Big 12, 1998, 2000, '04; Big Ten, 1993, '96, '97, '99, 2002; Pac-10, 2002; SEC, 1974, '82, '83, 2002, '03.

RELATED ARTICLE: The prize is in their eyes.

The race for the national title took a defining turn last week, but that doesn't mean conference races still aren't fun and frenetic.

The leaders--from unbeaten Alabama to five-loss Louisiana-Monroe--are hitting the homestretch in crazy conference shakedowns. Mathematical chances aside, every conference has one team with a straight road to the championships.

--Matt Hayes

ACC Atlantic

Florida State is division champion.

ACC Coastal

Miami will win with victories over Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Virginia.

Virginia Tech will win with victories over Virginia and North Carolina and a Miami loss.

Big 12 North

Colorado will win with a victory over Iowa State or Nebraska.

Big 12 South

Texas will win with a victory over Kansas or Texas A&M.

Big East

West Virginia will win with victories over Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and South Florida.

South Florida will win with victories over Syracuse, Cincinnati, Connecticut and West Virginia.

Big Ten

Penn State will win with a victory over Michigan State.

Ohio State will win with victories over Northwestern and Michigan and a Penn State loss.

Conference USA East

Southern Miss will win with victories over Marshall, Houston, Memphis and Tulane.

Central Florida will win with victories over UAB and Rice and a Southern Miss loss.

Conference USA West

UTEP will win with a victory over UAB or SMU.

Tulsa will win with victories over East Carolina and Tulane and two UTEP losses.

MAC East

Miami (Ohio) will win with a victory over Bowling Green.

Bowling Green will win with victories over Miami (Ohio) and Toledo.

MAC West

Toledo will win with victories over Northern Illinois and Bowling Green.

Northern Illinois will win with victories over Toledo and Western Michigan.

Mountain West

TCU is conference champion.

Pac-10

Southern California will win with victories over California and UCLA.

UCLA will win with victories over Arizona State and USC.

SEC East

Georgia will win with victories over Auburn and Kentucky.

Florida will win with a victory over South Carolina and a Georgia loss.

SEC West

Alabama will win with victories over LSU and Auburn.

LSU will win with victories over Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas.

Auburn will win with victories over Georgia and Alabama and an LSU loss.

Sun Belt

Louisiana-Monroe will win with victories over Middle Tennessee, North Texas and Louisiana-Lafayette.

Louisiana-Lafayette will win with victories over Florida International and Louisiana-Monroe.

WAC

Boise State will win with victories over Fresno State, Idaho and Louisiana Tech.

Fresno State will win with victories over Boise State, Nevada and Louisiana Tech.

Louisiana Tech will win with victories over Idaho, Boise State and Fresno State.

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