Despite a bowl scenario that is unclear with one week of games left, the Big Ten Conference told the bowls it is associated with to make their selections yesterday and to assume that Iowa would be selected by a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl. The Penn State football team accepted a bid to the Capital One Bowl to play the second selection from the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

"We were informed today by the Big Ten that the clock was running and that Iowa and Ohio State were not available," said Tom Mickle, executive director of Florida Citrus Sports, the managing company of the Capital One Bowl and Tangerine Bowl.

However, because it is not ranked in the top four of the BCS rankings and not a conference champion, Iowa, No. 5 in the BCS, is not an automatic selection for any of the four BCS bowl games. According to the BCS, which is being run by the Big East this year, no statement was made on yesterday's BCS teleconference that implied that Iowa would definitely be selected.

"All I can say is that we won't be announcing any of the at-large selections until Sunday," said John Paquette, Big East associate commissioner of communications. "I don't know why the Big Ten made this decision."

If Iowa is not selected, the Capital One Bowl would theoretically be forced to take them. The Big Ten's contract with that bowl gives it first selection of bowl teams after the BCS. It cannot select a team with more than one overall loss more than another available team. Iowa is 11-1; the Nittany Lions are 9-3. No indication was given as to what actions the bowls and the conference would take if Iowa was not selected by the BCS.

Big Ten Associate Commissioner of Communications Sue Lister said the Big Ten would not comment on the decision and would have no further comment other than what the conference issued in yesterday's press release that announced each eligible Big Ten team's bowl destination besides those of Ohio State and Iowa. It said nothing about why the decision was made.

Representatives from the bowls involved in the BCS were surprised to hear about the release as well. Both the Rose Bowl and the Orange Bowl committees expressed a desire to wait until after Saturday's games to make their official announcements.

"[Assuming that Iowa is in] is a big assumption on the Big Ten's part," Rose Bowl sports information director Nancy Atkinson said. "They jumped the gun."

The Orange Bowl committee was even more surprised. That bowl will get the first selection of teams if Miami beats Virginia Tech on Saturday. Yesterday, they declared that the Big East champion would be their anchor team.

Each bowl has at least one anchor conference due to regional tie-ins. Those bowls must take the champion of those conferences if it is available, and if that bowl is not hosting the national championship game. The Pac-10 and Big Ten are aligned with the Rose Bowl, the SEC is aligned with the Sugar Bowl, and the Big 12 is aligned with the Fiesta Bowl. The Orange Bowl can choose between the Big East and ACC for its anchor team.

Because the Hurricanes are the No. 1 team in the BCS, the Orange Bowl gets the first selection after the teams for the Fiesta Bowl are selected in order to fill the void Miami would create. It would have to take the Hurricanes if they lose, but if they win, it has the choice of any remaining BCS eligible team that is not an anchor team.

After that, the Rose Bowl has to pick the Pac-10 champion. The Sugar Bowl will then take the SEC champion. The Orange Bowl will then take its second team, then the Rose Bowl selects its second team to fill in for its other anchor team, Big Ten champion Ohio State, who will be in the Fiesta Bowl. The Sugar Bowl will make the last selection.

Because of its options, Joe Hornstein, the Orange Bowl's director of media relations, said the bowl committee would wait until Sunday before making a decision. He said it would be considering Kansas State, whose coach, Bill Snyder, flew into Miami yesterday to talk to the committee about the benefits of taking the Wildcats. It was also considering Iowa, Notre Dame, Southern California, ACC champion Florida State, and the winner of Saturday's Big 12 championship game between Oklahoma and Colorado. Hornstein said the Orange Bowl gave no indication that Iowa would be a guaranteed selection.

"I know nothing about it," he said about the decision. "I don't know what else to say other than the Big Ten must be confident that Iowa will be chosen. The Orange Bowl has made no decision on which teams it will take. "

The BCS must take the top two teams in the BCS rankings in its national championship game, which is the Fiesta Bowl this year. The champions of the six BCS conferences must all be selected to fill that bowl and the other BCS bowls, the Rose, Orange and Sugar. The top three teams in the BCS rankings must all be selected. If all those teams are conference champions, the No. 4 team must also be selected. After that, the two at-large bids can go to any team in the top 12 of the BCS rankings.

Unless UCLA upsets Washington State this weekend, which would allow USC to win the Pac-10 championship, the Trojans would have to be selected as an at-large team because they are No. 4 in the BCS. That would leave BCS No. 5 Iowa, No. 8 Kansas State, No. 9 Texas and No. 10 Notre Dame among the pool from which the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Sugar Bowl could choose another at-large team. If USC does win the Pac-10, two of the aforementioned teams can be selected, most likely Iowa and Notre Dame.

If the bids hold up, Michigan will go to the Outback Bowl, Wisconsin will go to the Alamo Bowl, Purdue will play in the Sun Bowl, and Minnesota will be in the Music City Bowl.

On a teleconference with Penn State football coach Joe Paterno announcing the Lions' bid acceptance, a reporter said that Big East commissioner and current BCS coordinator Mike Tranghese had called the decision a "huge assumption" on the Big Ten's part. However, Paterno said he was confident his team would still be playing in the Capital One Bowl.

"Why should I care, I'm going to go to Orlando regardless of what Mike Tranghese said," Paterno said. "He's Italian. I understand Italians, and you don't."