Penn State could be sitting in a favorable position as far as its NCAA Tournament odds are concerned before playing in its first Big Ten tournament game on Thursday. After a strong finish to the regular season highlighted by back-to-back wins against Northwestern and Maryland, two teams essentially locked into a tournament bid at this point, the Nittany Lions may be able to get away with not even winning its Big Ten tournament opener against Illinois, although it would certainly be good to win the game just to be sure.
USA TODAY Sports’ updated bracketology published on Tuesday has Penn State getting into the tournament, although it would be as one of the participants in the opening round games as an 11-seed. According to the most recent update to the bracket forecast from USA TODAY, Penn State would be paired up with Mississippi State to give the Big Ten a total of 10 teams in the big dance. The other Big Ten teams include Purdue, Indiana, Northwestern, Iowa, Michigan State, Maryland, Illinois, Rutgers, and Wisconsin (who also would be in an opening round matchup).
A victory over Mississippi State in the opening round would send the Nittany Lions to the 11-seed in the West region, where future Big Ten member UCLA is the top seed. Penn State would take on six-seed Creighton out of the Big East in the first round, with a possible shot at 3-seed Kansas State in the second round on the line. The Big Ten’s regular-season champion, Purdue, is the second seed in the West and could be waiting for a Sweet 16 matchup if things were to go Penn State’s way. Purdue would have to get out of the first round that includes a first-round matchup with UNC Ashville and the winner of a Duke-MEmphis matchup in the first round.
Penn State is sitting in a slightly more comfortable spot in the updated bracket from Joe Lunardi of ESPN. Lunardi has Penn State in as one of the last four teams not having to play in the opening round games.
Either way, Penn State knows it still has some work to do to ensure they end their NCAA Tournament drought. A win against Illinois on Thursday, a team they have beaten twice already this regular season, would help in a big way, and a second win against Northwestern on Friday would likely be more than enough to wrap up a tournament invite.
But of course, four wins would ensure Penn State doesn’t have to worry about any at-large scenarios.
The Big Ten men’s basketball tournament gets underway on Wednesday with a pair of games. Penn State will face Illinois on Thursday evening. Here is the full Big Ten tournament schedule and updated tracker.
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