Penn State-Ohio State is a big game, but in the vague, intangible way that is unique to college football.

There are no playoff berths on the line, since the sport has no playoffs. There are no division titles on the line, since the Big Ten Conference has no divisions.

There is the juice that comes from a matchup of neighboring conference rivals and football hotbeds. Otherwise, the stakes are no clearer than virtual elimination from the possibility of sharing the Big Ten championship with Iowa, and a chance at cementing Bowl Championship Series eligibility.

Perhaps. Maybe.

Such is the position the Big Ten has placed itself in by having 11 members, no divisional structure for a conference championship game, and no December games.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno doesn't care much for all that. He's said it before, and he said it again during his weekly media teleconference Tuesday.

"If I had my way, I would expand the conference," he said, "so we could be in the same kind of … calendar as these other schools are.

"We'll be sitting home for two, three weeks, everybody else in the country will be playing. And last year when we had to go to a bowl game, you know, Southern Cal played two or three games after we had, going out there. We didn't play very well, and they gave us a good licking, and I think that didn't help the conference.

"I think it's hurt us some, but I think it's obvious why. We've backed out of the national scene after (Nov. 21), the last Saturday we play in the league."

Penn State is 8-1, 4-1 in the Big Ten, and ranked 11th in the BCS standings. Ohio State is 7-2, 4-1 and 16th.

But the Buckeyes get to play Iowa (9-0, 5-0) at home the following Saturday, meaning they could share the Big Ten crown and get the league's automatic BCS (meaning Rose Bowl, almost certainly) berth.

Penn State doesn't have that same opportunity, since it is in effect two games behind Iowa with three left, having lost to the Hawkeyes head-to-head at Beaver Stadium Sept. 26.

But the Nittany Lions are in better shape than Ohio State in BCS terms, since they are five spots higher in the rankings.

Penn State has been installed as a 3½-point favorite.

"The consequences of winning or losing are obvious to everybody, but you can't go at it that way," Paterno said.

"I think we've got to just say, 'let's play it, let's go out there and have a little fun,' and 'let's not beat ourselves,' … and afterwards what happens happens."

Penn State has won five straight, and is now battle-tested in ways that would not have been possible during the soft, non-conference September portion of the schedule.

The last two wins, 35-10 at Michigan and 34-13 at Northwestern, were Penn State's most impressive of the year.

The Nittany Lions weren't flawless, though. Michigan marched right down the field and scored the first time it had the ball, but largely stopped itself, in a fashion typical of a team quarterbacked by two true freshmen, after that.

Northwestern QB Mike Kafka was brilliant early, but left in the second quarter with an injury. Still, the game was tied after three quarters.

"We didn't do some things as well as you would like against Northwestern," Paterno said.

"Hopefully you learn from that, but I don't know. I really don't. I would think every game you play you learn something, particularly some of the younger kids that have had to come to the front."

The point is a good one; whether it's because of key injuries or early blowouts, Penn State has gotten to play a lot of people. Now those people —cornerback Stephon Morris, wide receivers Curtis Drake and Justin Bown, to cite three true freshmen who showed up at Northwestern — are helping their team wear people down.

"Any of those kids get in there, obviously it's a good experience for them," Paterno said. "Whether some of the older guys that have been around it, you know, maybe they get a little careless, I don't know, but we didn't play a great football game against Northwestern, but we did what we had to do to win it."

Saturday's game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Beaver Stadium (ABC/ESPN2).

mgross@lnpnews.com