No. 7 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS

Paterno, Lions look to build on 40 wins in 4 seasons

How long can he keep this ball rolling?

JoePa, entering his 44th season at Penn State, had his team atop the Big Ten and just two points away from a trip to Miami and the BCS National Championship game in 2008. This coming three years after the 11-1 Big Ten championship season, where a late defensive stand against Michigan would have had the Lions in contention for a title. Now, the 82-year-old has his team poised for another run, all while continuing to increase his all-time winning margin over coaching rival Bobby Bowden.

The Lions latest resurgence shows the versatility of Paterno as a head coach. After rising as high as No. 2 in 1999, Paterno's team fell off the charts. From end of the '99 season (when the Lions closed a 9-0 start with a 1-3 finish) until the start of 2005, PSU was 26-36 under JoePa, with the lone bright spot the 9-4 Capital One Bowl season led by Larry Johnson. Further, during that span, the Lions were under .500 in conference play; not exactly living up to the standards Paterno had created. After grumbling from the fan base, Paterno began to open up his offense after naming Galen Hall offensive coordinator in 2005 and intensified his recruiting, especially back in the fertile Pennsylvania area.

But with all the attention pointing toward a possible Penn State championship run, there's a question of whether the 2008 team might have been a better team than the one that opens 2009. Of course, with the way this schedule lays out, this team won't have to be better; it'll just need to be consistent.

And with a schedule like this, there's going to be a lot of complaints from around the country. The Lions are going to start to get the heat that Ohio State has - namely that winning the Big Ten right now means nothing. Outside of a home date against Ohio State, PSU plays almost no one of note. The toughest road game is at Michigan State to close the season. And even Ohio State has lined it up against Texas and USC over recent years. Penn State's non-conference schedule: Akron, Syracuse, Temple and Eastern Illinois - all at home.

An undefeated season will be required for the Lions to get to the BCS title game, but since the BCS began in 1998, only once has an unbeaten BCS team been left out. Expect a lot of complaints though if the Lions get an invite over another unbeaten BCS team.

CFN 2009 Preview | ESPN Penn State Page | CBS Penn State Page

Part of a two-week long look into the 2009 Preseason Southern Fans' College Football Poll. New posts released each day, culminating with the No. 1 team on September 2.