MARCHING TO THEIR OWN BEAT

Pardon the pun, but March has come in like a Nittany Lion this year. Since the last day of February, Penn State has posted two thrilling home-court victories to complete season sweeps over Indiana and Illinois respectively. The back-to-back wins have featured buzzer-beating shots, comebacks, heartfelt speeches from seniors, swelling BJC crowds and a Heisman-candidate quarterback storming the court. It's been a magical month.

Historically, this time of the season has been better served by dreaming of April's football scrimmage or the dawning major league baseball season. This year, the Lions have served notice that they have saved the best for last, and who knows what and when that will be. Since head coach Ed DeChellis' first season in 2003-2004, the Lions are a combined 3-12 in March, including a 1-6 mark in postseason play. This year the Lions have a great chance to win both of their March contests and earn a first-round bye in the conference tournament for the first time ever.

Penn State's win against Illinois on Thursday night was as thrilling a victory as you could ever hope for and seems to have cemented the Lions' spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Lions have now won four of their last five games and put themselves in a position where a win on Saturday at Iowa coupled with a Purdue loss on senior day at Michigan State would land Penn State in a tie for second place in the Big Ten standings.

With the success that Penn State is enjoying come new pressures. As much as the fans love the Lions for their big win on Thursday, nobody will forgive a flat effort against the Hawkeyes, even though it comes less than 48 hours after the buzzer-beating win against the Illini. Furthermore, the Lions will always have to prove themselves worthy, fairly or unfairly, in both the Big Ten tournament and the big dance. This program has won only seven NCAA tournament games in its history, and it will be hard for pundits and fans not to judge this squad based on the short tournament resume of its predecessors. But as we've said before, there's little resemblance between this crop of Lions and the others that have come before it. Hopefully that will never be more true than in March.