Nebraska vs. Penn State 2011: Nittany Lions Hurt Rose Bowl Chances with Loss

After 12th-ranked Penn State was upset by Nebraska 14-17 on Saturday afternoon, their hopes for a bid in the 2011 Rose Bowl took a huge hit.

While losing to the 19th ranked team in the country isn't anything to necessarily cry about, this loss meant more than just an "L" in the loss column.

After the loss, the Nittany Lions sit at 5-1, and pending a potential win for Wisconsin over Minnesota today, they will only have a one-game lead over the Badgers in the Leaders division of the Big Ten.

With only two games left to play, Penn State will have to travel to Ohio State next Saturday, then will have to take on Wisconsin at home in a matchup that will likely determine who represents the Leaders division in the Big Ten championship.

Both those games will be tough for Penn State to come out victorious, and even if they do, they'll likely have to take on Michigan State or Nebraska again for rights to the Rose Bowl.

And it doesn't stop there.

If you have, for some reason, been living under a rock and haven't heard of the whole Joe Paterno firing, losing a head coach—who has coached at the school for over four decades—during the stretch run to bowl season doesn't bode well for the Nittany Lions.

Joe Paterno coaching the Penn State football team was the definition of stability.

However, there is no more stability at Penn State, which is exactly what Paterno supplied his players with for over 45 years as the school's head coach.

With him gone and the wake of his departure still engulfing the football team as a whole, it will be an insurmountable task for Penn State to put all of this behind them and concentrate solely on football.

It's a shame that this dilemma arose during the most important time of the season. Penn State was in prime position to make its first Rose Bowl appearance since 2009.

But with the difficult remaining schedule and the Paterno scandal surrounding the team, a bid for the Rose Bowl is all but out of the question for Penn State.