Now it's just a question of where.

After beating Illinois Saturday 18-7, Penn State is bowl eligible for the first time since the 1999 season, when the Nittany Lions finished out the season at the Alamo Bowl.

The assurance that the team won't be staying home for the holidays came as a relief for the seniors that suffered through two years of losing football.

"This is for the seniors and I wanted to [become bowl eligible] not for myself, but for the other guys here who have not been to a bowl game since they've been here," said tailback Larry Johnson, whose school-record 279 rushing yards Saturday went a long way in ensuring the victory.

Despite being virtually assured of a bowl berth, Penn State football coach Joe Paterno stressed that the Lions' three remaining games are the most important thing in his mind right now. However, even Paterno, long known for downplaying things, admitted he's excited for a group of players he's called his favorite over the years.

"When [the players] come out here [to address the media], I'm sure they'll be anxious to go someplace and I'll be anxious to go with them," Paterno said. "But I really haven't thought about that, we've got a few more good games to play."

Those three games will determine a lot. While the Lions have been practically eliminated from the Rose Bowl race, there is a possibility they could go to almost any of the six other bowls the Lions have tie-ins to. That means Penn State could wind up almost anywhere from sunny Florida on New Year's Day to Detroit for the Motor City Bowl Dec. 26. For Johnson, any bowl is better than watching the postseason from his couch.

"We can go to any bowl really, it doesn't matter," Johnson said. "Like they say, 'beggars can't be choosers.' Any bowl they put us in, it could be the Toilet Bowl, I'll still give 100 percent."

However, there are a couple of Lions that were more willing to express a clear hierarchy in bowl preference based partially on prestige, partially on geography.

"I know me personally, I'm happy we're bowl eligible," defensive end Michael Haynes said. "And from now on, every win gets us to a warmer place."

Haynes' fellow lineman, defensive tackle Anthony Adams, put it a little more bluntly. When the Detroit native was asked what the weather was like in his hometown the day after Christmas, he kept his answer simple.

"I don't know," Adams said. "I don't plan on being there."

The only way to ensure that is by keeping the wins coming.