How IU changed football history

You might not know it, but the IU football program has made a major impact on why college football is what it is in this day and age.\nTo fully understand where I am going here, we first must go back in time to the greatest performance in IU history -- or at least in the last decade. Fittingly, it came in a losing effort.\nOn Nov. 5, 1994, the undefeated Penn State Nittany Lions came into Bloomington deadlocked with Nebraska in a hunt for the national championship. The game figured to be a cakewalk for Joe Paterno's squad. And for three quarters, it was. Penn State led 35-7 heading into the fourth quarter.\nJoePa, being ever the gentleman, or maybe just wanting to make sure stars Ki-Jana Carter, Kyle Brady, Bobby Engram and Kerry Collins didn't get hurt, called off the dogs. The Hoosiers proceeded to rattle off 22 points in the quarter, including a Hail Mary as time expired to finish the game with a 35-29 loss.\nI'd gather that a lot of people didn't win against the point spread on that day. But more significantly, the pollsters were not impressed to see a score that read PSU 35, IU 29 flash across the wire.\nPenn State finished the season undefeated, including a Rose Bowl win over Oregon. Nebraska also won out. The result ended up being the only thing worse than two teams splitting the national championship: two undefeated teams and only one of them winning the national championship. And the Nittany Lions were the losers.\nNow there was a public outcry. How could a team that won all of its games not at least have a chance at winning the national title? Soon thereafter, (at least as soon as the bureaucratic forces that run college football could mobilize) the Bowl Championship Series was born.\nSo, if you hate the BCS, blame IU. Or if you like it, thank them. I would much rather have seen the historical legacy yield a playoff system, but that will apparently take something even more drastic to happen.\nThat's because University presidents will continue to spout crap, er, insight, about how a playoff system is a detriment to the time players spend in the classroom. Funny, I couldn't help but notice that there was a college football game on TV every night last week. And somehow every other division of NCAA football has a playoff system.\nThe real answer, of course, is that the bowl system is a cash cow, and nothing will change about it until a playoff system can create even more revenue. For instance, IU should get somewhere in the neighborhood of $285,000 to sit at home as a member of a BCS conference.\nBut back to our history lesson. We know that JoePa has never forgotten that game. IU has never beaten Penn State. The only time they have come remotely close was in 2000 when Penn State beat the Hoosiers 27-24 at the RCA Dome. (Students aren't even willing to walk 10 minutes to Memorial Stadium. Did they honestly think people would drive an hour? Also, you might be interested to know that the Illinois game had IU's lowest home attendance since 1985.)\nNow the team that cost Paterno a national championship is in position to cost him his job. It's a real tragedy to even think that is a possibility. But Penn State's only wins have come against Kent State and Temple, and some overzealous boosters are eager to get rid of the man that made Penn State football. His first ever loss to IU could be the straw that breaks the camel's back.