After starting the week off with a tough loss on the road at Maryland, Penn State’s already slim chances of making the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament took a real punch to the gut. Penn State still has an opportunity to play some postseason basketball, but the Nittany Lions will have to finish on a real strong note if they want to participate in this year’s big dance.
According to Team Rankings, Penn State has an 11% chance of being invited to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Penn State, with a record of 13-15 after Monday’s loss at Maryland, will most likely have to hope they have a resume that speaks for itself to the committee because the Nittany Lions have just a 1% chance of winning an auto bid as Big Ten tournament champion.
Penn State could have set itself up for a strong finish to close out the regular season with a win at Maryland, which would have given the Nittany Lions a much better path to moving up in the seeding for the Big Ten tournament. With the setback in a year full of road struggles, Penn State may have a difficult time getting out of the No. 10 seed.
Penn State still has a good chance to take advantage of a mostly favorable schedule for the last few games of the regular season. A win at Illinois may be extremely difficult to pick up, but Penn State could potentially win every other regular-season game still to be played before the Big Ten tournament.
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