In this joint theoretical and experimental work we investigate the population and decay dynamics of excited states of the C-60 molecule by time-resolved two-photon photoemission. We map out how the thermally excited vibrational degrees of freedom lead to a transient redistribution of the photo-excited states. This includes the super-atom molecular orbitals (SAMOs), which are of great interest currently. The measured lifetimes are in line with full-fledged first-principle calculations.