Putting to rest a handful of ifs and buts, the CompUSA Florida Citrus Bowl committee announced yesterday that No. 13 Penn State and No. 6 Tennessee will meet in the bowl New Year's Day in Orlando, Fla.

Penn State was chosen to compete in the Citrus Bowl as the second-place Big Ten team, despite an upcoming matchup between Wisconsin (8-1-1, 5-1-1 Big Ten) and Michigan State (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) in Tokyo on Saturday.

A tie between those two teams would officially leave the Badgers as the conference's second-place team, with a 5-1-2 record, compared to Penn State's 6-2 mark.

"The alternative was to wait one week -- we decided not to wait on that," Florida Citrus Sports President Jack Prevost said during a teleconference. "There was a very remote chance (of a tie), we were told."

Florida Citrus Sports Executive Director Chuck Rohe added that because Wisconsin needs a win to make the Rose Bowl, the chances of the Badgers playing for a tie are small.

Coach Joe Paterno's team will face Tennessee in a bowl game for the second time in three years. The Lions stormed to a 42-17 comeback victory over the Volunteers in the 1992 Fiesta Bowl.

"What we're looking forward to is a rematch of the second half of the Fiesta Bowl," joked Penn State Athletic Director Jim Tarman, referring to the Lions' 35-7 second-half run after the team fell behind 17-7.

Tennessee (9-1-1) also enters the bowl amid a bevy of questions. The Volunteers only loss came at the hands of Florida, a team that will play Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship game this Saturday.

Under the bowl coalition agreement, the loser of that game or "the bowl's choice of qualified alternatives" would be the SEC representative for the Citrus Bowl. The choice of Tennessee for the Citrus Bowl drops the Alabama-Florida loser into the Gator Bowl on New Year's Eve.

The possibility that Florida, last year's SEC runner-up, could be locked out of a bowl in its home state for the second consecutive year did not go unnoticed by the Citrus Bowl committee.

"We would like to have Florida in our football game anytime we have the opportunity," Rohe said. "The decision that our selection committee made actually works to our financial sacrifice."

"They obviously have the right to make that selection," SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer said.

Paterno said he is looking forward to a return trip to the Citrus Bowl, where Penn State was crushed 35-10 by Clemson in 1988.

"Last time, we got a really good licking from a good Clemson team," the coach said. "We want to go down there and play well."

The game will start at 1 p.m. and will be televised by ABC-TV.