LEWISTOWN — As Penn State’s Blue Band played and Lucas Oil Stadium rocked, thousands of Nittany Lion fans clad in their traditional white shirts chanted “We Are Penn State” during the 2016 Big Ten Football Championship Game.

Including Bret Treaster, of Lewistown. He said, “Pretty much the majority was Penn State fans. We tailgated all day, and we had a blast out there.”

Nine years ago, Treaster watched as quarterback Trace McSorley put Penn State squarely back in the national spotlight with an epic 38-31 come-from-behind victory over No. 6 Wisconsin.

“The first half didn’t look well for us at all,” Treaster said. “Trace had a good game. Our seats were right behind the goal post in the endzone. We were right behind where the Blue Band sat.

“I do remember security telling us, ‘Penn State fans were some of the most well-behaved fans,'” Treaster added.

Ryan Marker, of Yeagertown, was seated in the same zone. The highlight for him was seeing McSorley throw the winning TD to Barkley. “Saquon caught it right in front of us,” Marker recalled.

Barkley’s 18-yard touchdown catch with 13:41 left in the game gave Penn State its first lead as the Nittany Lions had erased a 28-7 deficit to Wisconsin.

That was the highlight of the trip for Marker, who traveled to Indianapolis for his first game away from Beaver Stadium. He’s been to three Penn State bowl games since that trip.

“College GameDay was also out there,” he added of the famed ESPN pregame show.

Before Nittany Lion head coach James Franklin left the field, he lobbied the playoff committee to put then-No. 8 Penn State in the Final Four.

The Nittany Lions’ resume was impressive, but they weren’t selected. Many die-hard Penn State fans languish in the notion that Penn State hasn’t been back on that Big Ten stage since.

Despite the loss to Ohio State and seeing newcomer Oregon run roughshod over the Big Ten competition, Penn State is not eliminated from contention from playing in this year’s Big Ten Championship Game.

The Nittany Lions don’t have a direct, or even gently curved, road to Indianapolis for the Dec. 7 title tilt. But they can get there.

The Big Ten released a three-page document of legalese that reads convolutedly but includes six basic tiebreakers. Here are some scenarios, with the tied teams being compared based on:

1. Head-to-head matchups during the regular season – presumably a combination of Oregon, Ohio State, Penn State and Indiana . To date, Oregon edged Ohio State and Ohio State beat Penn State, so Ohio State-Indiana looms as a massive date on the schedule.

2. Record against all common conference opponents. Since they’ve only lost to each other, there isn’t much determined here.

3. Record against common opponents with the best conference record then basing it how they finished in the conference standings.

4. Best cumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponents.

5. Based on the highest ranking by SportSource Analytics following the regular season.

6. Random draw conducted by the commissioner.

It seems like a lot of legalese mumbo-jumbo. After that, the tie breaking procedures dive deep, particularly if multiple teams are involved. And that’s what Penn State wants, in certain circumstances.

So, what the Nittany Lions need are at least one final-weekend upset (Go Blue!) or the Buckeyes to win out and Washington to come through. It’s quite a needle to thread, but it’s possible.

Indiana must lose to Ohio State today

An Indiana win over Ohio State today essentially eliminates Penn State from Big Ten championship-game contention, even if the Hoosiers lose to Purdue in the final weekend.

In that case, both Indiana and Oregon still would have wins over Ohio State, a key point to any tiebreaker. Penn State fans should be rooting for the Buckeyes on Saturday if they want to get to Indy.

The three- and four-team tiebreakers could get to comparisons of opponent winning percentages, which are impossible to determine with two weeks left in the regular season. But generally, Penn State should have a winning-percentage edge over Indiana should that tiebreaker come into question. But that scenario needs to include an Indiana loss to Ohio State.

Nittany Lion fans would then root for Michigan to upset the Buckeyes in the season finale.

What Penn State needs to reach the title game

Win out. Obviously, the Nittany Lions need to be 11-1 overall and 8-1 in the Big Ten for any of this to matter. Penn State has two games remaining: at Minnesota today and the home finale against Maryland on Nov. 30.

Ohio State needs to beat Indiana then lose to Michigan. In this case, Penn State likely would be the No. 2 seed above Indiana, based on opponent winning percentage. The title game matchup would be Penn State vs. Oregon, even if the Ducks lose to Washington on Nov. 30.

Ohio State to win out, Washington to beat Oregon. This scenario triggers a four-team collection of one-loss teams. Penn State would win tiebreakers over Oregon (loss to Washington) and Indiana (opponent winning percentage). Thus, Penn State gets its rematch with Ohio State in the Big Ten title game.

Why should Penn State want to reach the Big Ten title game? It’s a chance to claim not only the conference title but also potentially the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff.

“We need to take care of business with Minnesota and Maryland to guarantee our shot in the big football playoff,” Treaster said.

At the very least, Penn State would be No. 2 with a championship-game win. If they lose, the Nittany Lions still should be situated to host a playoff game at Beaver Stadium.

Stay tuned. Treaster and Marker certainly will be.