Penn State is looking for its first Big Ten basketball championship in school history on Sunday and then will watch the NCAA selection committee’s final bracket decisions to learn its seed, destination and first-round matchup in the NCAA Tournament.
The past week has gone exceptionally well for Penn State. The Nittany Lions have gone from floating on the bubble to a possible single-digit seed on Selection Sunday.
The final bracketology update before the Big Ten championship game from USA TODAY has the Nittany Lions comfortably in the tournament. The bracket outlook from USA TODAY on Sunday morning has Penn State receiving the ninth seed in the East Region and facing a first-round matchup with Arkansas from the SEC in Des Moines, Iowa.
The USA TODAY bracketology update has Penn State looking at a possible second-round matchup with No. 1 seed Kansas in the East.
Indiana (a No. 4 seed) and Michigan State (a No. 7 seed) would join Penn State in the East, although a potential matchup with another Big Ten team would not happen until the Sweet 16 at the earliest (Penn State and Indiana would both have to advance past the first weekend to allow for this matchup). An all-Big Ten regional final between Michigan State and either Penn State or Indiana is possible.
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi also has Penn State in a comfortable spot on Selection Sunday regardless of the result of the Big Ten championship game against Purdue, although Lunardi has Penn State getting a No. 10 seed at the moment.
If nothing else, Penn State certainly is a lock to end its NCAA Tournament drought, which extends back to 2011.
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