HE WILL EAT YOU

Shame on you if you missed The Jamelle Cornley variety show on Saturday during Penn State's 63-59 comeback win over Iowa.  The big man was a beast and the key component in the Lions last two wins.  The senior put up 24 points and played EVERY SECOND of the game.  Try running the length of a basketball court twice and let me know if you're tired.  It's clear Cornley is playing the best basketball of his college career and it's come at a key time of the season as the Lions will face 4 ranked teams during their next 6 games.  PSU now has a week off until they have two road games in a row beginning with Michigan State on Sunday. 

Cornley is excited.  And if Cornley is excited, you better be exited with him.   

Or else.

IF YOU WIN, THEY WILL COME

As the basketball season continues on, you might begin to notice something different about the telecasts on TV. If you're lucky enough to be at the Bryce Jordan Center, you'll certainly notice the difference in person. I'm not talking about the increase of points for the home team, or the new man to man defense employed by Ed DeChellis' squad - it's the actual amount of fans in attendance.

The difference? There's a lot of them.

For the first time in years, the Penn State student section can actually label themselves a 'student section'. Nittany Nation, as they call themselves, has seen just as much of a revival this year as the men's basketball team. In less than a year the student section has gone from under 1,500 at most games, to over 4,000 on average for the past few games. No longer are the students struggling to fill up an entire sideline. For the past two home games (Michigan, Michigan State), they've filled up the space behind both baskets and have even leaked into the once barren upper deck.

Attendance in general has increased this season as the BJC has had attendances of 10,270 and 8,730 in the past two games. These numbers are up 22% over two similar conference games last year. But the attendance increase can not only be attributed to the extra numbers in the win column. Both the student body and the athletic department have committed time and energy this season into creating a real home court advantage for the Nittany Lions.

Through the use of websites such as Facebook and on-campus promotions, both the students and the athletic department have been "advertising" home games furiously this season. The Nittany Nation "officers" have been creating Facebook events for each home game which has without a doubt raised awareness and excitement for each game.

Iowa Facebook Event Here...Invite your friends, Invite your lovers!

Once reserved only for football season, pump-up videos have been virally spread on the Internet, which although they generate excitement, take up way too much of my time at work and severely compromise my job.

Click here for a great example of the latest. Seriously. Watch it.

The athletic department and GOPSB.com have created professionally made video's of their own which are not only shown on the web, but also on the Big Ten Network (filmed by my buddy Jeff). Examples if these can be seen at the bottom of the post.

Along with videos, the athletic department has done a great job of promotions and giveaways during games this season. At Saturdays contest against Iowa, the Big Ten football championship trophy will be in attendance along with Darryll Clark, Navorro Bowman and Evan Royster among other football players. The players will be signing autographs before the game and fans can pose with the trophy. Students can also enter to win free textbooks or season tickets for next year's football season.

The players even hand delivered season tickets to a small number of the season-ticket holders before the season. If that doesn't show a plead for fans...I don't know what does. Either way, it's clear that Penn State is beginning to make the commitment necessary to make basketball a serious program at the University.

It's hard to say if the extra fan base in the stands and the extra noise in the rafters of the BJC has contributed to PSU's early season success. But the players have certainly noticed. After the Lions heartbreaking loss to Michigan State in early January, Talor Battle made it a point that the media include his thank you to the fans during their game summaries. Senior Jamelle Cornley was seen mouthing "thank you so much" to the student section before the Michigan tip-off. It's clear that the players appreciate the support as much as they need it.

As the season wares on and each game becomes more and more important, let's not only be satisfied with an increase in fans at each game. Sure we're not even close to the attendances that Illinois, Michigan State and Ohio State draw each night. But we're moving in the right direction. Can you imagine the player's reaction if they ran out of that tunnel in front of a sold-out Bryce Jordan Center? It may not be probable yet...but with a student body of over 40,000 at University Park, it's possible.

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING...

While you've been sleeping this January, the Penn State men's basketball team has been ever so quietly, sneakily, and dare I say confidently building their first NCAA tournament-worthy resume since 2001.

Although the Nittany Lions have tournament aspirations every season, they haven't been even remotely close since Joe Crispin and Titus Ivory led the Nittany Lions to the Sweet 16 in 2001, when they knocked off two-seed North Carolina.

This year, the Nittany Lions have their best team since 2001, yet their work is still cut out for them. Coming into this week, their RPI lingered in the mid-80s. The non-conference strength of schedule was not good at all, but Penn State appears to be making up for that with solid conference play. They currently sit at 15-5 (4-3). This is the fastest Penn State has ever reached 15 wins in a season.

Unlike years past, where a road game was an almost certain loss and home games were always a toss up in an empty and dark Bryce Jordan Center, they haven't had a bad loss in the Big Ten this season. The team lost at Wisconsin and Minnesota, and managed a furious comeback at home against Michigan State only to lose by 5. Last night, they picked up their second quality conference win, and did so in convincing fashion (something new for Lions fans). Michigan has been inconsistent, entering State College with two straight losses, but they still have a very respectable RPI due to several top-notch victories (UCLA, Duke). Penn State beat the Wolverines by 15 and had a lead of 26 at one point in the second half.

Everything Penn State fans have been waiting and pleading for from the Nittany Lions happened last night against the Wolverines of Michigan. Ed DeChellis used a great mix of man and zone defense, keeping the Michigan offense off balance and cold from the floor all night. Big Ten leading scorer Manny Harris was held to only 4 points. Meanwhile on offense, the Lions made all of the extra passes, hit their open shots and were patient with the ball.

See highlights HERE...

The Lions got stellar outside shooting, as Talor Battle, Stanley Pringle, and Danny Morrissey combined for 9-13 shooting from three. Inside, Jamelle Cornley was a beast as he was 8-9 from the paint, with 11 rebounds.

Games like that will clearly grab the selection committees attention, however they must come in multiple amounts.

A very winnable game against Iowa awaits Saturday evening, then the Lions will have an entire week off. After that, they have to visit both Michigan schools on the road, play Wisconsin at home, go to Purdue, host Minnesota, and head to Illinois and Ohio State. Needless to say, they better enjoy that rest period. Considering their traditional road woes (they were 2-12 in road/neutral games last season, and currently sit 4-3 this season), this will be a tough run which will truly show the Nittany Lions true colors.

However, if they can keep their momentum rolling and play as well as they (and we) know they can, those dancing shoes might just need to be polished. But the team needs to keep in mind that if they let up even a little in a tough Big Ten Conference, they'll yet again be trying to persuade the NIT brass instead of the NCAA committee at the end of the season.

A GOOD READ

As The Floating Lion begins the transition into the Nittany Lion basketball season, I can promise it'll be updated much more often. The mix of the official end to my football season (after the Giants um... shot themselves in the leg on Sunday), the cold weather and my empty bank account gives me, as well as other posters, much more time to dedicate to the site. Before the basketball coverage fully tips off, I found a great read this morning on the prospective Penn State NFL draftees written by Bill Kline of the Allentown Morning Call.

The article can be found "HERE" .

Remember, reading is knowledge!

HUGE WIN OVER # 14 PURDUE

In what is hopefully the first of many this Big Ten Conference season, Penn State defeated #14 Purdue tonight at home 67-64.  More to come on this big win tomorrow.  

Still bummed about the Rose Bowl?

How about PSU Basketball is now 13-3 (2-1) with a win over #14....

Going to be a great season

THE NITTANY LEOPARDS

There will be some wholesale changes around this blog now that the curtain has officially come down (with a thud) on the 2008 Penn State football season. We'll switch gears from the gridiron to the hardwood and join the 12-2 men's basketball team on its quest for a bid to the NCAA Tournament in March.

First, a few thoughts on the 2009 Rose Bowl...

The USC Trojans are good, better than at least I expected. A perfect gameplan by Pete Carroll and his coaching staff was executed perfectly (for at least one quarter) by the team, and that proved to be Penn State's undoing in Pasadena.

As Penn State fans know, Joe Paterno's philosophy has always been to play a fundamentally sound, mistake-free game and bank on the fact that the other guy will get frustrated and make mistakes. Think back to the 1987 Fiesta Bowl against Vinny Testaverde's Miami Hurricanes. The 'Canes racked up tons of yardage against Penn State, but thanks to a hard-hitting secondary, a perfectly placed zone coverage scheme and pressure from the guys up front, Miami made a ton of mistakes and Penn State's 14 points were enough to win a national championship.

How about the Ohio State game earlier this season? Freshman Terelle Pryor got greedy on a third down play in the fourth quarter with his Buckeyes up by three. Instead of just diving into the hole for the sure first down, he tried to stiff-arm Mark Rubin and go around end for a game-changing big run. We all remember how that turned out as well as Pryor's decision later in the game to throw into double-coverage in the end zone.

USC never pressed in its game on Thursday, and it didn't have to. Penn State's three second-quarter possessions ended when the Lions failed to convert two third-and-shorts (maybe having Evan Royster and Dennis Landolt would have helped) and Stephon Greene fumbled after a thirty-yard catch and run. Had Penn State been able to extend any one of these drives, it would have bled a few more minutes off of the clock at the least, which could have helped to keep the ball out of USC's hands and keep their offense out of the endzone. Who knows if the game would have been different had PSU been facing a smaller deficit in the second half.

As far as the argument that Penn State should have changed from zone to man coverage or stopped running the football; a leopard cant change its spots and you can't change what you've done all year to get you to 11-1 and a conference championship. This game was lost when Penn State couldn't get pressure on Mark Sanchez with its defensive line. Tom Bradley is not the kind of coordinator to design elaborate blitz packages and you can't expect Penn State, after weeks of preparation, to scrap its gameplan because it fell behind by a few scores.

I think the long layoff hurt Penn State more than anybody would like to admit, but the storyline for this game begins and ends with the absolute perfect execution of USC in the second quarter. If there's a silver lining to come out of this game it's that this team had a taste of greatness, but ultimately came up short - that usually can create hunger in a football team to recreate that feeling of accomplishment. Hunger coupled with the motivation of losing on the big stage could be a potent combination for future success (think Penn State 1985 team that got beat in the Orange Bowl by Oklahoma and bounced back the next season with another undefeated regular season and a national title in 1986).

Another positive for Penn State that might come out of the game is the underclassmen that were considering moving on to the NFL, may reconsider after the subpar showing and return to make the team even better in 2009.

PSU BASKETBALL: GET ON BOARD

I know that some of you don't follow Penn State basketball. I also know that all of you (us) are destroyed over yesterday's embarrassing showing in Pasadena.  But, it's cool.  In a few minutes, you're gonna know all you need to know about the PSU men's basketball team to enjoy tomorrow's Big Ten clash against Wisconsin (10-3, 1-0).

Record: 12-2 (1-0)

Last Game: Defeated Northwestern 61-57 in the Big Ten Opener

Roster:

2 Jamelle Cornley    F     SR      6-5/240 Columbus, Ohio/Brookhaven
10 Chris Babb     G     FR     6-5/210 Arlington, Texas/The Oakridge School
11 Stanley Pringle     G     SR     6-1/180 Virginia Beach, Va./Landstown/Pasco-Hernando CC
12 Talor Battle     G     SO     5-11/160 Albany, N.Y./Bishop Maginn
13 Will Leiner     G     SR     6-1/175 Coplay, Pa./Whitehall
14 Adam Highberger     G     SO     6-2/175 Blairsville, Pa./Blairsville
15 David Jackson     F RS     SO     6-6/205 Farrell, Pa./Kennedy Catholic
22 Andrew Jones     F RS     SO     6-9/245 Philadelphia, Pa./Abington Friends
24 Cammeron Woodyard     G     FR     6-5/205 Westminster, Md./Winters Mill
25 Jeff Brooks     F     SO     6-8/200 Louisville, Kent./Doss
33 Danny Morrissey     G RS     SR     6-3/190 Cleveland, Ohio/Pendleton School (Fla.)
41 Steve Kirkpatrick     F     SO     6-5/225 Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley
42 Billy Oliver     F     FR     6-8/210 Chatham, N.J./Chatham
54 Andrew Ott     F RS     SO     6-10/235 Abington, Pa./Germantown Academy/Villanova

Despite neutral-site losses to Rhode Island and Temple, there is a lot to be excited about with this Nittany Lion squad.  They finished their non-conference schedule with 11 wins, the most the Lions have had since 1995 and they knocked off Northwestern earlier this week at home. 

A win over Georgia Tech on the road earlier in the season, gave PSU fans a taste of how good this team really can be. Although they have had a strong season thus far, they have been streaky.  When the Lions are hot, they can shoot the lights out (60% against Hartford), and when they get cold they struggle severely from the floor (31% against Northwestern).  They'll have a lot of work to do on their consistency if they want to be competitive in the Big Ten.

Even when they're struggling from the floor, there's been two consistant bright spots this year in the form of Taylor Battle and Stanley Pringle.

Battle and Pringle, who had 14 vs. the Wildcats, form one of the Big Ten's top guard tandem as they have combined make 70 threes while shooting nearly 47 percent from three and have led the Lions in scoring in all but two games. Pringle and Battle are joined by senior forward Jamelle Cornley (14.1 ppg) in all ranking in the top 10 of the conference in scoring making Penn State the only Big Ten team with three such players.

Just because football season is officially over doesn't mean we have to wait until the Blue/White game to get our Penn State sports in.  The basketball season is in full swing and the Nittany Lions have a squad that is not only competitive, but also poised to make a run into the tournament. 

Get into it.

Quick Reads:

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2008/12/30/lions_enter_conference_play_wi.aspx

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/96612-penn-state-basketball-set-to-battle-the-big-ten