THE GREAT AWAKENING

I have a confession to make. It's been eating away at me for a while now, and it's something that I have to alleviate from my conscience right now.

I've been selfish.

I've been taking all the joy from this magical ride that Penn State has been on and keeping it locked up inside me, instead of sharing it with all of you. Every improbably victory, every Jamelle Cornley double-double, every electrifying performance by Talor Battle and every hair-whitening performance at the free throw line has been absorbed by my greediness instead of reflected onto all of the hungry, success-starved fans of Nittany Nation that have waited for me with this. And it's got to stop.

This is too big for one fan to hog to himself, it's probably too big for all of us to understand right now and it's too big to be overlooked.

Penn State basketball...welcome. We've been waiting for you.

We, the fans, have been waiting through a seemingly endless winter that has seen the program in full hibernation mode, poking its head out only seldomly to test the temperature of the Big Ten and always finding it too warm for its liking. But when the 2008-09 season tipped off, the Lions, trying to replace one of the program's best talents ever after the graduation of Geary Claxton, emerged from it's snow covered cave in bermuda shorts and sunglasses, ready to face the full glare of a conference currently ranked second in the country.

Predictably, the team bullied a limp non-conference schedule, suffering setbacks only to Temple and Rhode Island who are a combined 37-15 on the season and have an average RPI ranking of 55. Still, there was nothing in this early-season success that indicated this year would be different from the last few seasons. An impressive win in Atlanta on national television over the Yellow Jackets at least raised an eyebrow, but it was immediately followed up by a loss at home to the Owls to help bring fans' expectations back down to Earth.

When the team boasted an 11-2 mark as it readied itself for Big Ten play, it was the fourth season in a row that Penn State posted a winning-record in non-conference play, but the team had yet to post a winning record overall for a season since the Sweet Sixteen run in 2001.

In the time that spanned that riot-inspiring until this season, Penn State basketball has had little to hang its hat on. Incoming recruits could be wooed with banners that showed a .346 winning percentage since 2001 including a jaw-dropping 7-68 record on the road. The Bryce Jordan Center had gone from the crown jewel of Big Ten basketball arenas when it opened its doors in 1996 to a venue referred to as "soulless" by ESPN's Pat Forde, and one where home-court advantage was only a rumor.

It would take up far too much time to provide a detailed chronicle of Penn State's hoops odyssey, but suffice it to say that the program seemed to be stuck in a samsara of college basketball. A cycle of suffering that had no end in sight...until now.

This team can break the cycle. This team has swagger. That's an overused word in sports these days, but a suitable replacement term has yet to be found that connotes the exact same idea. Swagger is much more than confidence and much more refined than cockiness. Pounding your chest after burying a contested three-pointer on the road or releasing a primal scream as you throw down a two-handed dunk after a turnover are characteristics of swagger, but they don't tell the whole story. To get that, you have to watch this team play.

It's impossible to tell how far this squad can go. A NCAA tournament berth seems to be well within its grasp, maybe even a run into the second weekend and beyond. But this season, as much as it is about the team is also about the fans. We've waited a long time to have a team that looked as hungry for success as we were and even longer for one that could acheive it. So don't tread lightly. Don't hold your breath when you see the the five road games coming up on the schedule. Don't fear for the worst...expect the best.

Sometime soon, history will put this season in perspective. It could be the turnaround we've all waited for, or maybe just another temporary flare up. But for now, let's just live in the moment and enjoy this run with the recklessness of a Battle pull-up three-pointer, the emotion of a Cornley offensive rebound and the fulfillment of a starving nation of fans finally getting a taste of the success we've craved for so long.