At the conclusion of every practice this season, the entire Penn State football team, like most teams, has always congregated one last time before parting.

Usually encircled by the multitude have been the team's three captains, linebacker Paul Posluszny, cornerback Alan Zemaitis and quarterback Michael Robinson.

The three would normally give instruction concerning the next game, nuggets of wisdom or perhaps a pep talk. The Nittany Lions often closed out by collectively proclaiming, aloud, the place where they envisioned themselves being by season's end: the Rose Bowl.

It now looks as if that tentatively scheduled date in Pasadena, Calif., could be in serious jeopardy of cancellation.

Even if this team would have finished the season as the first undefeated Penn State team since the 1994 squad, it would still be far from a cinch that it would actually play in the Jan. 4 Rose Bowl, college football's national championship game this season.

Scanning the country and assuming the following schools remain undefeated, there's a team in Southern California, a team in Texas and some Hokies down at Virginia Tech that would definitely have as much of a chance as the Lions -- if not more -- to be invited.

One of the highly criticized aspects about the BCS system is many people feel that a lack of a traditional playoff format denies teams the chance to prove on the field of play who's really the best team in the country each respective year.

Penn State's name would certainly be in the hat this year, but the chances of it actually getting picked are an entirely separate issue.

Following a number of Lions victories this season, Robinson has been quick to point out that none of those wins were the equivalent of a Rose Bowl triumph, stating that was the setting by which this team could truly be judged.

After the Lions' last-second, 27-25 loss against Michigan on Saturday, Robinson talked about whether that dream of roses has wilted any.

"No, that's still a goal of ours," Robinson said. "There is a lot of football that is going to be played in these next few weeks. Hopefully, we'll just take care of what we can take care of. We have to focus on one game at a time and everything will take care of itself."

Before Michigan quarterback Chad Henne hit freshman wideout Mario Manningham with the game-winning touchdown pass on the final play of Saturday's game, Robinson orchestrated a 13-play, 81-yard drive to regain the lead for the Lions, which at the time, all but ensured the hope for roses was still a possibility.

Robinson wasn't on the field in the waning moments, so in essence, there was nothing he could do about the final outcome. If he had it his way, his dramatic comeback drive would have ended with all the time elapsed.

"Yes, I did feel helpless. For the first time in my life I had no control of what was going on in the game," Robinson said.

"Maybe it's just the competitor in me, maybe it's just the selfish football player in me that I want the ball in my hands, and I want to go out and make plays.

"When I saw one second on the clock I looked up and thought, 'We're at Michigan, maybe the timekeeper...' I didn't know how that one second was up there. But it was."

Lions senior safety Chris Harrell was on the field for that final play. He said he sat at home a whole lot by himself, just trying to get a handle on what actually happened. When asked if the letdown with one second left completely ruined his team's chances of a national title, Harrell chose to take a positive outlook on the situation.

"We feel like leaving the season 10-1 and winning these last four games against good teams would put us in good position," Harrell said.

"So we really haven't had to reconsider our goals too much."