Steelers fans poured into the streets across town as the Pittsburgh Steelers came from behind in the last two minutes to win Super Bowl XLIII, 27-23, last night.

Police tried to prepare for the throngs, having blocked off major streets as a safety precaution during the fourth quarter, but the numbers of revelers were overwhelming. Vandalism in Oakland resulted in 40 or more arrests, according to one officer's estimate.

After the game ended, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said in Tampa that a victory parade would probably be held in the city Tuesday or Wednesday, but details remained to be worked out. He expects the time and location to be announced today.

He noted the victory will once more "put us in the national spotlight."

"The last-minute drive was incredible," the mayor said. "It's kind of indicative of the entire season, how time and time again we came back."

Numerous school districts joined the Pittsburgh Public Schools in announcing a two-hour delay to today's classes in recognition of the late-night celebrations taking place in the region.

Around the city, more than 400 police officers were on duty, including those on horseback and motorcycles and with riot gear, to erect barricades on sections of the South Side, Oakland, Strip District, North Shore and Downtown.

While there were no reports of serious injuries or significant property damage, Oakland revelers turned rowdy near the University of Pittsburgh campus. They lit numerous fires in the street, damaged bus shelters and broke windows of Hillman Library.

"It was brilliant chaos," but frightening, said Molly Hackman, a Pitt freshman from Lititz, Pa.

Within minutes of the game's thrilling conclusion, at least a thousand young people filled several blocks of Forbes in a march eastward through Oakland, ending in a swarm near Bigelow Boulevard.

Police summoned reinforcements because of the heavy crowd and incidents of vandalism. Some students carried street signs and a parking meter that had been broken.

Officers closed the Oakland side of the Birmingham Bridge at about 10:30 to prevent any of the crowd there from crossing the river to the South Side.

If anything, the throngs on East Carson Street were bigger but more orderly. Officers there formed a human barricade near South 26th Street, some of them on horseback and with police dogs, while fans nearby cheered and waved Terrible Towels while shouting "Here we go, Steelers!"

Fans popped open champagne bottles, wrapped their arms around one another and snapped photos in celebration. But soon after 11 p.m., the South Side was relatively quiet.

Seeming to speak for many revelers, Jonathan Warnock, 21, of the South Side, said while walking with his girlfriend: "It was a great game. Anybody who loves football had to have loved that game. It ended the right way."

Earlier, hundreds of happy Steelers fans on East Carson Street showed their passion and potential for rowdiness as the first half of Super Bowl XLIII ended. They were celebrating James Harrison's 100-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Some of the revelers from the Rex Theatre got a little out of hand, stampeding in front of a 51C Port Authority bus and banging on its windows. One man scaled the bus and celebrated atop it, and about a dozen others followed his lead.

Two motorcycle police officers, showing restraint, coaxed the climbers down and cleared a path for the bus, sending the handful of startled riders on their way.

The police made no arrests, but other officers just down the street made a show of pulling their riot gear from a paddy wagon so the crowd could see what it might be up against.

Elsewhere on the South Side, more than 100 uniformed officers representing city, state and county police met at a command post at the UPMC Sports Performance Center to prepare for any disruptions. They included officers with riot shields.

"We want to keep anything from getting out of hand and keep everyone safe," said Cmdr. Catherine McNeilly.

The halftime surge on East Carson was the first since the game began at 6:28 p.m., leaving the street virtually deserted.

But inside the bars along East Carson, patrons filled every available seat to watch the Steelers mount an early field-goal drive. At bars such as the Carson City Saloon, patrons had been lined up before they opened in the morning to get a good viewing spot.

Police posted no-parking signs along Carson Street and its side streets from the 10th Street Bridge eastward. Barricades were stacked at the intersection of Carson and 10th streets, ready to block off the area at the end of the game. Police cruisers were in place on many side streets.

Earlier in the day, Steelers fans swarmed throughout the Strip District, buying up every conceivable souvenir. Police there shut down several blocks of streets to traffic so that members of the Steelers Nation could roam freely from vendor to vendor.

While sales were healthy there, illness in the form of a Steelers flu appeared to abound among Port Authority drivers.p>

Port Authority spokesman David Whipkey said there would be delays on the South Hills T, beginning at 4 p.m., due to an unexpected shortage of trolley operators.

"It's a manpower issue," he said. "People have been calling off sick."