LIONS WIN UGLY AGAINST ILLINOIS

It is often said that for team "A" to upset team "B," the former must play an absolute perfect game. That was certainly not the case when the Penn State Nittany Lions, assuming the role of team "A," outlasted the sixteenth-ranked Fighting Illini 38-33 on Thursday night in Champaign. Neither team would claim any style points in this turnover plagued, brick-laden affair, but Penn State would claim its second road victory over a ranked team this season and thrust itself into the discussion for an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Perhaps we were all a little premature when we said that Penn State had turned the corner after upending Michigan State in East Lansing last month. That game fit the generic description of the underdog playing way over its head to pull off the upset. Wednesday's game was different from the upset of the Spartans in that the Lions did not play a good game offensively, but still found a way to get a win on the road against a ranked team in February. It was exactly the kind of win fans had been waiting for. A win that exclaimed, "Penn State can beat you anywhere at any time." And even if that proclamation doesn't turn out to be exactly true, the players now have the confidence to believe such a statement, and that means more than it's absolute validity.

Suddenly, Ed DeChellis's claim that the Lions had to win four out of their last five to get a bid to the tournament doesn't seem so far-fetched. Not with the next game coming against a reeling Ohio State team; and not with return match-ups against Indiana, Illinois and Iowa - three teams the Lions have already beaten this season - to end the season.

Earlier this year, the Lions strung together four straight conference victories, only to suffer three straight double-digit defeats to completely reverse any momentum they had gained. Now, after back-to-back wins against teams ranked ahead of them in the Big Ten standings, the real challenge will be to avoid a similar slide and play their best ball of the season as the calendar turns to March.