State College is no longer a drinking town with a football problem.

Instead, after the Penn State men's basketball team slam-dunked a monumental upset of North Carolina last Sunday, this borough now morphed itself into a drinking town with a basketball problem.

And oh, how sweet it is. Sweet 16, that is.

With the 82-74 victory over the No. 2 seed Tar Heels, locals will no longer jest that Nittany Lions cannot be spelled without NIT, or that PSU's basketball program is made up of thin linebackers who can't tackle.

Even Joe Paterno, the father of football in central Pennsylvania, recognized the significance of the Nittany Lions' (21-11) latest tourney win.

"As someone who was around when Penn State reached the Final Four, I consider this weekend's performance in New Orleans one of the memorable highlights of our athletic program in my 51 years here," said Paterno, who coached his nationally-renowned football program to a 5-7 record last season, in a press release. "Getting to the Sweet 16 is a great accomplishment, but I know [Coach Jerry Dunn] and his team want to keep playing."

So what's the deal here?

Penn State football, the unquestioned powerhouse of the university's athletic program, failed to reach a bowl game for only the second time since 1950. On the other court, however, men's basketball has now seen more press than two fidgety guards with no handle.

Translated, the rest of the country — for at least a hot NCAA tourney fraction of a second — now thinks of basketball when Penn State comes to mind.

"Really, Pennsylvania is not a basketball state," Dunn said. "It's not like Indiana or North Carolina, where kids grow up and basketball is part of their life. Here, it's more football and wrestling. When kids think Penn State, they think football."

Well put, Mr. Dunn. But now, those days are done.

Penn State's victory over UNC cannot be estimated because a victory of such magnitude on national television amidst the frenzied NCAA tournament will undoubtedly have standout high school recruits now considering Happy Valley as a possible stop before the NBA.

Instead of removing splinters from their backsides at basketball meccas like Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke and Kansas, blue-chip high school seniors may now look to Penn State for mounds of minutes.

What's more is that Penn State isn't even finished busting brackets yet.

Friday's game against No. 11 seed Temple (23-12) is certainly winnable, as evidenced by PSU's 66-60 win earlier this season at University Park. It must be noted, however, that Temple's Quincy Wadley — who averages 15.5 points per game — did not play in that game. And Temple holds a 53-32 edge in the all-time series.

Nevertheless, Temple, a university known for its basketball program, must throw everything except the kitchen sink at Penn State — a university known for its football program — to reach the Elite Eight.

And should Penn State stave off Temple's dreaded match-up zone, the Lions could draw Michigan State in the next round. Once again, Penn State has a win to refer to here, as just weeks ago MSU fell to PSU in the Big Ten quarterfinals, 65-63.

From there, Penn State could bump into both Kentucky and Illinois, two powerhouses that succumbed to Crispin Bros. & Co. earlier this season. So, it is certainly not outlandish to envision PSU meeting Duke on April 2 to decide the national championship.

Likely? Maybe not. But then again, how many so-called gurus had Penn State beating Providence or North Carolina in the first two rounds? (Sports Illustrated and yours truly surely didn't.)

Win or lose, Penn State basketball is back in a big way, and Penn State football isn't the only roaring program in town anymore.

Can anyone say "Hoopy Valley"?

Well, let's win it all first.