BRACKETS!

The season might not have ended as planned...or began as planned for that matter...or at any time resembled what fans were expecting in 2010, but the time we've all been waiting for has finally arrived. The Nittany Lions, who were so incredible in the single-elimination tournament format last season that saw them travel from University Park to Gainesville to the Big Apple, have their spot in the conference tournament and a chance to punch their own ticket to the big dance.

Penn State drew the primetime slot for its first round game this Thursday against Minnesota, a team that has defeated the Lions twice this season by a total of eight points. It's difficult to know what to expect from the Golden Gophers, a squad that kicked off the season ranked in the top-20 but hasn't won more than two games in a row since the Big Ten season started.

The Gophers, slotted sixth in the Big Ten, need to at least reach the championship game, and that still might not be enough, to be considered for an at-large invitation. Should the Lions get by Minnesota, co-champion Michigan State awaits in the second round. A likely matchup with co-champion Purdue would follow should Penn State upset the Spartans and then a finals showdown against Ohio State or Wisconsin. It's a tough road to hoe for the Lions for sure, but maybe, just maybe, if all the fortuitous bounces and breaks that Penn State seemed to not get all season are repaid to it this weekend, this never-say-die team will get a chance to shine on the biggest stage of all.

SOMEBODY LET ME OFF THIS CRAZY THING

The most cynical of Penn State basketball fans would never dream of a season like this one.

The roller coaster named "The 2010 Penn State Men's Basketball Season" continued to dip and dive on Thursday night, culminating in another heartbreaking one-possession loss to Michigan State in what has become a seemingly endless "loop de loop" of unfulfilling drama.

It's nearly pointless to analyze the game, when one could second-guess virtually every possession as the one that would have changed the outcome. Suffice it to say that the Lions showed tremendous guts in fighting back from numerous double-digit deficits on the road against a team that had everything to play for. The steal by Chris Babb with under a minute to go, the hustle by Bill Edwards to not allow an easy layup, the oh-so-close five-second call against Michigan State that didn't come and the last second race up the court by Talor Battle serve as little more than residue of another loss in a season full of missed opportunities.

Throughout the basketball desert that has been the last two decades of Penn State basketball, one might have allowed himself to longingly fantasize about a time when the Lions would blossom into a giant on the hardwood and claim vengeance for years of humiliating defeats. In his worst moments of frustration he might even have envisioned a team that would reset the record books for futility and finally hit the rock bottom of college basketball.

Yet I can't imagine a fan that could have predicted that Penn State, following what arguably was its best season in the history of the program, would follow a path littered with heartbreaking losses as it has this year. Thursday's two-point loss at East Lansing was the ninth this season that came by six points or less or in overtime. If there were a courtroom of college basketball for teams to air grievances, the Lions could call the thousands of fans in Nittany Nation to bear witness to the cruel and unusual punishment that has befallen it all year long. Had the Lions even split those contests, they would be above .500 overall and right in the middle of the conference standings.

There's one game left in the regular season and then a chance to punch a ticket to the big dance with four straight wins in Indianapolis. If this team hasn't given up by now, you can be sure that it will give everything its got to extend its season with a miraculous run through the conference tournament. Judging by the way things have gone to this point, Penn State will lose on a last second four-point play in the championship game.

THE COLOR PURPLE

Here's a suggestion for the next time Penn State's basketball team decides to do a team-building exercise...karaoke. That's right. Let coach Eddie D put on his best neon stretch pants and 80's hair band style wig and take the stage. The song...a somewhat improvised brand of David Lee Roth's version of California Girls that goes something like this: "I wish they all could be like Northwestern."

Penn State looks like an entirely different team against the Wildcats. Its offense actually looks fluid (the Lions two highest scoring outputs this season both came against Northwestern), its bench plays with confidence and contributes at both ends and its defense is active and makes Northwestern's offense look like...well, Penn State's usually does.

There's just something about the purple and white that brings out the best in Penn State. Typically, that something is just the fact that the Wildcats are awful. But this season, that's not the case as Northwestern was, as of two weeks ago, a serious contender for an at-large berth in the big dance. This year's bottom feeders, Indiana and Iowa (along with Penn State), both beat the Lions. Traditional basketball royalty Indiana drew a particularly uninspired effort from the blue and white in State College.

By contrast, Northwestern and its 18 overall wins has been a solid middle-of-the-pack team in the conference this year, but gave Penn State two of its three Big Ten wins by a combined 30 points. The only question that remains is whether or not Penn State can possibly draw the Wildcats again.

As the standings are right now, Penn State is tied for 10th with Indiana and, assuming both teams lose out, will draw the seventh seed as a first-round opponent in the conference tourney. And just who is that lucky number seven team? Northwestern.

There's still a week of regular season games left to be played, but even if the Lions can't improve their stock by pulling off an upset of in their next two games, they still might not be in bad shape to play into the weekend in Indianapolis. Considering the Lions next two opponents are both likely second-day matchups for Penn State in the Big Ten tournament, this week will be extremely valuable should the Lions draw one of those two teams in the postseason.

WHAT LOSING STREAK?

What's better than winning your first Big Ten conference game? Winning two in a row. More than just doubling its win total in conference, Penn State's victory on the road against Michigan on Saturday symbolized the killing of two demons with one stone.

First, the Lions earned a tough road win in a place that has always given them problems. Secondly, Penn State finally won one of those close games that has tortured the team all season. The season isn't saved, not yet, but after twelve straight losses the start the Big Ten schedule, back-to-back wins have allowed this team and its fans to exhale.

The four point victory against the Wolverines wasn't much for aesthetics, but it was evidence of a team that finally conquered, at least for one game, the late game collapses that has become its trademark. A final look at the play-by-play from Saturday revealed another such drought, but this time, despite scoring just four points in the last 9:57 of the game, the team's defense and rebounding proved to be enough to steal a much-needed win.

The two straight wins weren't without their flaws, and nearly all of them, if not corrected, will be exposed by the Ohio State Buckeyes on Wednesday. It sounds strange to say given its struggles, but this team needs to continue to be motivated by its new-found success rather than relaxed by it. Sure, some of the pressure is off after shedding the "0-for-" label, but the Lions have three big dogs remaining on their schedule and can throw a monkey wrench into the conference standings if they can pick at least one of them off.

Not all of what has led to the change in fortunes of the squad can be explained on a whiteboard, but there are noticeable differences in the way the team has played. The Lions hoisted an average of 19.8 three-pointers per game during the 12-game losing streak but shot only 17 against Northwestern and tied a season-low with just 13 attempts against Michigan. This has been made possible by a seemingly concerted effort by the guards to get the ball in low with entry passes to the front-court players early in the shot clock. This attempt at balancing the floor has resulted in some easier buckets and an apparently more confident Jeff Brooks and Andrew Jones.

Sure, the turnovers continue to be a problem and opponents still get wide open looks due to late rotations, but it is encouraging to see the team correcting the problems that plagued it to start the season. If only it could have engineered this turnaround six weeks ago.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING?

When it comes to basketball, it's quite rare to think of anything that Penn State has done as historical. Then again, the team did set the school's all-time record for victories in a season and raised a banner in the Bryce Jordan Center with last year's NIT Championship run and is currently is on pace to become the only school, other than Northwestern, to ever lose every game in a Big Ten basketball season since Woodrow Wilson was president.

Fans that have paid attention to this year's squad knows that it probably is a good deal better than its record would indicate, but the record books won't make any special designation to that fact. All that history will preserve is the zero in the win column, a distinction that will rank the Lions with the Wildcats teams from 1999-2000, 1991-1991, 1923-1924 as the only teams to go the entire season without an in-conference win in the last 85 years.

Penn State has seven games left, including a first round game at the Big Ten tournament, and the desperation to stop the losing will grow with each half of basketball it plays. Only three of its remaining contests are home games and only one of those is against an unranked foe. Ironically, the best chance for the Lions to get that elusive first win might be in one of its two remaining matchups against Northwestern, the program it's hoping to avoid joining for all eternity as the ultimate losers. However, should the Lions lose the rest of the games it plays this season (conference tournament games don't count towards a team's conference record), its final mark of 0-18 would officially be worst in the history of Big Ten basketball. What a difference a year makes.

THE WINNING RECIPE

It's plain to see, even to Joe Paterno and his new surgically enhanced eyes, that something needs to change for Penn State basketball. The first six weeks of conference play have provided exactly zero victories and shoved the Lions into the basement of the Big Ten standings. However, as the recent slide by Saturday's opponent Michigan State has shown, things can change in this league in a hurry.

Just because the Lions haven't won yet, doesn't mean they can't or won't - it just means that they'll have to make some changes to get over that hump that looks more like Mount Everest after eleven straight losses. So, in the midst of what amounts to a bye week, we're taking the opportunity to look forward instead of backwards and breakdown what has to be done if Penn State is going to salvage what's left of the season.

PUSH THE BASKETBALL
Nobody will confuse this Penn State team with the slow, plodding types so often associated with Big Ten basketball. It's brutally painful to watch this team try to execute in the half-court with an offensive arsenal that consists of ball screens 25 feet away from the basket, an occasional staggered screen for Talor Battle or Chris Babb or my personal favorite, bleeding the shot clock dry to run a clearout for Battle to try and take his man off the dribble. When you have a roster like Penn State's, without a true back-to-the-basket post player, why not try and use your guard strength to create tempo and get some easy buckets off of the other team's misses.

One of the problems with this proposal is that the guards aren't available to receive the long outlet passes since they are the ones rebounding the basketball. Still, you should be able to leak out a guard to try and push the ball up the floor and if the bigs aren't the ones snaring the rebounds, then they should be able to fill the lanes on fast breaks or clear out space for open looks from the other guards on the secondary break.

GET IN THE ZONE
This team is struggling to defend teams man-to-man. It can't seem to stop the ball on penetration and the help defense is too often late, causing major problems when the defense has to rotate to find the open shooter. Ed DeChellis, master of the 1-3-1, should take some of his own advice and employ a trapping 1-3-1 or a 1-2-2. At the very least, Penn State should use these defenses after made foul shots just to give the opponent something to think about. A player like Tim Frazier would be perfect on the baseline of a 1-3-1 and playing zone would help keep Battle fresher for the offensive end.

The danger with playing zone defense would be open looks from three for the other team off of skip passes or the lack of rebounding assignments. However, the Lions are already the worst defensive three-point team in the conference and the rebounds it does collect are often from the guards crashing the glass. A good mixture of trapping, aggressive zone defenses and man-to-man pressure could give Penn State a psychological advantage and help to create more turnovers that lead to easy buckets.

THEY'RE CALLED FREE FOR A REASON
There's just absolutely no excuse for Penn State to be making less than 70% of its foul shots. Shooting free throws is more muscle memory than anything and being successful comes from repetition of a sound routine. The routine starts with finding the middle of the floor with your lead foot and ends with the ball going through the hoop. I've always felt that practice time is too precious a commodity be wasted on foul shots. The players who are really struggling need to be putting in extra time so that when the opportunity does arise in the games, it's an automatic two points.

INBOUNDS PLAYS
Whatever playbook the Lions are using to get their inbounds plays from needs to be torn up. Then thrown away. Then lit on fire. Then have the ashes put in a cannon and shot into outer space towards the Sun.

Counting to three and then launching a soccer style toss into the backcourt for your guard to chase down isn't just unproductive, it's embarrassing. I find it hard to imagine that the team and the coaches have yet to find away to consistently pass the ball to somebody within shouting distance from the hoop. Every inbounds play doesn't necessarily have to result in a slam dunk. But it really should be more than just an upper body exercise for the man throwing it in.

It's been a excruciatingly tough start for the Lions, but with seven games remaining and the magical elixir known as the Big Ten tournament exactly one month away, the team is running out chances to do something positive with the momentum it built in Madison Square Garden last spring. This Saturday against the slumping Spartans is the perfect stage to unveil some of the magic that made last season so special and prove that this squad will be a tough out in Indianapolis.

GOPHERS RIP OUT LIONS' HEART

Do they give out 1/2 wins? Penn State raises the bar yet again for most heartbreaking defeat with a last second loss at home to Minnesota. While the buzzer-beater by Lawrence Westbrook is what people will remember from this game, there were a few other noteworthy occurrences that could help the Lions get that elusive first win somewhere down the road.

Something that Penn State should be looking to repeat in almost every game it plays is the up-tempo style that dominated much of the first half of its contest. With guys like Talor Battle, Tim Frazier and Chris Babb, pushing the ball and playing a 94-foot game is beneficial - especially when the team isn't shooting particularly well (40.4% vs Minn.). Secondly, the Lions finally got some productive minutes from Frazier in the second half, who showed he is maturing quickly enough to be a solid contributor on this team for forty minutes.

The Lions continue to struggle at the foul line and from behind the three-point arc, but continued to show improvement in attacking the basket - even if it didn't always lead to a positive result. The area that has plagued the Lions the most and struck again on Saturday was the lack of tough defense. Penn State got beat to too many loose balls and surrendered too many open looks. On the other end, the athleticism of Bill Edwards was missed, but the frontcourt has to provide more offense than it did against the Gophers. David Jackson poured in 18, but 14 of them were from the foul line or came on three-point field goals. Thirty-nine of the other 46 points came from the guards.

It's probably good that the Lions have a week off after this win. Some might say that it's too much time to digest such a heartbreaking loss, but maybe the best thing for this team is get away from the court for a couple of days and put this ugly losing streak behind them. Michigan State is up next, a team that tends to bring out a strong effort against Penn State. Much like the football team, this squad needs something to hang its hat on this season - and a win against Tom Izzo would certainly provide that. It was refreshing to see the Lions play well in the last couple minutes of Saturday's game, it will be even better to see them in the win column.

IT'S TIME TO DRAW A LINE IN THE SAND

Today's the day. Today's the day. Today's the day.

It is somewhat fitting that the team that started it all will also be the team that ends it. The conference schedule, and subsequent 10-game losing streak, began with a five-point loss to Minnesota. It's only slightly comforting to think about what might have been had the Lions not shriveled in the waning minutes of that game. Perhaps it would have been a spring board to another successful season rather than a sliding board to the basement of the Big Ten.

There's no real reason to think that today's game will really be any different the last ten, and it's rather sad when you're best chance of winning a game comes down to the laws of probability (We have to win one, right?), but just maybe the old unis and the blizzard outside will provide the recipe for some home cooking at the Bryce Jordan Center and help end the drought.

More than a victory, I am looking for something else today. The most frustrating thing to me this season has been how the team has reacted, or not reacted, to the losses. Sure, there was the clearly audible expletive from Talor Battle at the end of the Ohio State game and the cameras have caught a few other frowns from the guys on the bench, but where's the real emotion felt from losing ten straight? There hasn't been one technical foul, one hard foul or any pushing and shoving. I know, discipline is important, but at what point does a 20-year-old kid get sick of getting pushed around, or does his coach decide to show some real emotion instead of just holding his head in his hand?

So here's a memo to the team: It's okay to be angry and to play that way too. It's okay to get sick of guys hitting uncontested layups on you or getting your shots blocked back in your face. It's okay to send a message with a hard, clean foul on a player. We're not talking about Jon Chaney's goon squad from a few years ago, just something to let the other team know you're not exactly okay with being the league's doormat.

It's going to take a Herculean effort to get that first win, with the suffocating weight of ten straight losses working to hold the team down, but today's a perfect day to break through and start the slow climb back to respectability.

BATTLE OFF AND RUNNING

The Nittany Lion basketball team proved that its game against the Penn Quakers was nothing more than a Training Day, winning its season opener 70-55 on Friday night. Star guard Talor Battle earned much of the Glory, netting 27 points to go along with his 10 rebounds and four assists to lead the team in all three categories.

Junior Jeff Brooks played great as an Inside Man, and was the only other Lion to score in double figures, chipping in ten points in 27 minutes, perhaps showing that this is the year He Got Game. Guards Chris Babb, Tim Frazier, Cameron Woodyard and Adam Highberger shot just 31%, making fans Remember the Titans of last year's sharpshooting backcourt.

Penn, from Philadelphia, hung tough with the Nittany Lions for most of the night, but the Lions showed tremendous Courage Under Fire to pull away with a late surge and win their fifth straight conference opener.

Oh yeah, Denzel Washington was at the game to watch his son, a freshman on the Quakers, play.

5 REASONS TO GET ON BOARD WITH PENN STATE BASKETBALL

The Penn State basketball team opens its 2010 season on Friday night against the University of Pennsylvania at the Bryce Jordan Center. Just in case you were looking for a reason to pay attention to Eddie D and the boys this year, here's your list of five reasons why you should care about Penn State basketball.

5. 15th Anniversary of the Bryce Jordan Center
If you've been to Rec Hall for a game, you'll probably never be convinced that this arena was an upgrade (and a nostalgic part of me doesn't disagree) but the Bryce Jordan Center was unveiled as one of the jewels of college basketball fifteen years ago. In a terrific turn of serendipity, the ribbon-cutting on the state-of-the-art building coincided with one of the best regular seasons in Penn State basketball history. Since then, the teams that have called it home haven't always been great, but the amenities, parking and video boards certainly are. Now, finally, the team promises to be even better than the halftime acts that used to be the main drawing point for half the crowd.

Many jokes have been made about the museum-feeling associated with games in the BJC, but that's more due to the fans and the play on the court than the building itself. Last year, the BJC was host to thrilling wins against George Mason and Illinois and the growing student section has begun to carve out a niche for itself among Big Ten fan bases. Maybe you've been hibernating since the team moved across campus or maybe you were never big into college hoops, but this year is the best time to come and see why, on the BJC's 15th birthday, it was the envy of other schools when it first opened.

4. The Schedule
It took longer than most people would have liked, but the Penn State team has finally made amends for the weak out-of-conference schedules it has played in previous seasons. Whether or not the soft slate was the reason the Lions didn't get invited to the Big Dance last season, this year's campaign is dotted with quality teams. The season opens with Penn and then takes the Lions down to South Carolina for the Charleston Classic that includes South Carolina, Miami (Fl), Davidson, South Florida and UNC Wilmington. Other non-con opponents include Virginia, Temple, Virginia Tech and American University all before a blockbuster Big Ten schedule begins.

3. The Big Ten Network
It was easy to ignore Penn State basketball in years past since it was never actually on television, but now, with the Big Ten network, you can follow the Lions every step of the way. The only game on Penn State's schedule not listed as being televised as of today is the December 5th game on Broad Street in Philadelphia against Temple. You won't have to squint at the box scores to find out what happened to the Lions anymore, just flip on the BTN and watch.

2. You Might Regret it Later if You Don't
Most of today's Penn State football fans weren't around when coach Joe Paterno took the head coaching job in 1966. We've come in at various points throughout his long tenure and relied on videos, books or other fans to fill in the gaps we missed. It is beyond anybody's realistic or even wildest dreams that the basketball program will reach the heights of the football squad, but there's no arguing that this is a program that can succeed and be competitive for NCAA Tournament berths and conference titles every year.

The Lions success last year was hopefully just the beginning of what they can accomplish and the excitement felt by getting on the bandwagon now cannot be replaced by jumping on five years from now when winning is a regularity. There's something special about being around for the start of something important (just ask Ben Franklin and company) as anybody in MSG for the NIT Championship last year will tell you.

1. Talor Battle
He's a beast. Last year as a sophomore, he rose to the top of list of Big Ten guards while leading the Lions to the most regular season wins in school history. Despite being the focal point of every defense he played against, Battle routinely came up with clutch baskets and let the fans know the team was never out of any game it played. The All Big-Ten performer shared the leadership mantle with Jamelle Cornley and fought through a mid-season slump caused by fatigue and personal issues, to lead the team into the post-season. Now that Cornley has gone on to the pros, Battle is the unquestioned leader of this team and he's already proved to the world that he has the skills to be one of the country's best guards.


Battle, the BJC, the BTN, the schedule and beginning of new basketball tradition. If you aren't there to see what this team has in store for fans after the first postseason championship in the program's history, you have nobody to blame but yourself.

BATTLE ILLUSTRATED

SportsIllustrated.com has posted a story about Penn State's star guard, Talor Battle. The Albany, NY product has enjoyed a meteoric rise arriving on campus to becoming one of college basketball's best point guards. The rising sophomore was recently honored by being named to the USA Basketball Roster for the World University Games this summer.

Read the article here.

NITTANY NATION HITS THE ROAD

Penn State basketball has never been known for it's excessive or rowdy fan base. Coming from one of the largest and traditional football schools in the country, it's not hard to understand why. The Bryce Jordan Center is vast, dark and gloomy. Many home basketball games are on weekday nights, which make it hard for families (especially from out-of-town) to make the trip, and basketball season is in the dead of winter. However, if you've been paying attention this season, you'll notice that this trend is slowly reversing, and Penn State hoops fans are slowly coming out of the woodworks in support of this magical season.

Although they weren't always called "Nittany Nation", there has always been a student section at Penn State basketball games. While I was at Penn State from 2003 through 2007, I attended numerous games where the student "section" on one sideline wasn't more than 50% full. Students would sit quietly most games, wear whatever color t-shirt they could find on their dorm room floor, and leave with 12 minutes remaining in the second half. They may have had good reason to, as I'm not one to judge, however it certainly was frustrating to both dedicated fans and players. This off-season, while Jamelle Cornley was in the gym working on his 10-foot jumper, work was also being done off the court, recruiting new members of Penn State basketball fans who would hopefully stick around for years to come.

We've posted earlier this season about all of the great things Nittany Nation and the athletic department has done to get fans behind this basketball team. Facebook groups were started, signs were posted around campus, viral videos were posted to the internet, even the site GOPSB.com was generated for the sole use as a recruiting tool (players and fans alike).

Believe it or not, this has been only the second year where the student section is visible during televised games. After years of watching the complacent alumni crowd behind the court at games, PSU finally realized this wasn't working. How are people watching on TV supposed to get excited when the people there can't even get into the game? Games are now filmed with the student section (which is full) in full-view and the words "Nittany Nation" are stamped into the corner of the court.

After the groundwork was placed by both students and the AD, it was up to the team to bring in the fans. Battle and company quickly confronted this challenge and have delighted fans to what is, in my opinion, the best and most exciting basketball season Penn State has ever seen. The Lions have posted a 17-2 record at home this year which featured not one, but TWO last-second heroic shots, one of which sent the students into a frenzied rushing of the court.

To increase exposure nationwide, the team has beaten multiple NCAA juggernauts on National Television, including Michigan State, Illinois and now winners of 2 of the last 3 National Championships, Florida. Even coach Ed DeChellis admits he's not sure which is better, an early-exit in the NCAA Tournament, or all of this television exposure and big-game experience the team receives as they trudge through the NIT bracket.

The athletic department even canceled Wednesday's football spring practice media day, after the Lions defeated the Gators on the road to earn their trip to New York. That sums up the rise of the program right there.

Now, with the Lions two wins away from calling themselves NIT Champions, Nittany Nation has a chance to strut their stuff in Madison Square Garden, the greatest arena in the world. And although the game is days away, the Lions should have quite the following when they tip off in New York City Tuesday night. Minutes after Norte Dame beat Kentucky to punch their ticket to New York, a Facebook event entitled "White Out Madison Square Garden" was sent out to every member of Nittany Nation.

Facebook event can be seen here....

It's amazing to see how far not only the students have come, but Penn State fans in general have come to support the basketball program. I'd like to think the support will continue after this magical season is over, but to be honest I'm too excited about Tuesday to think about that now. If you haven't done so already, I highly suggest you get your $10 dollar ticket off of Ticketmaster (which is good for the 7pm game between San Diego State and Baylor as well), get to New York and cheer on your Lions. It's the least we can do for Cornley who has worked so hard to get here. Let's send him out like a champion.

MY APOLOGIES

I would like to send my sincerest apologies to the Penn State men's basketball team.

As hard as it is for me to say this, I gave up on them earlier this week.

With four seconds left and George Mason at the line last Tuesday, I was getting ready for football season. I said to myself, "there's no way there can possibly any magic left in this team." And, sure as the rash you got from that burner last weekend,  Talor Battle worked his magic again.

I believe Joe said it best on the phone to me seconds later before overtime began, "there's NO way we can lose now." However, thinking back to that phone call, Joe's words meant more than I thought. He didn't mean there was no way we could lose that game, but there is no way we can lose again this season.

Let me back up a little bit. Neck and neck with a feisty George Mason team, Jamelle Cornley was sent to the trainer's table after his shoulder popped out in the second half for the third time this season. Now, I've never had my shoulder dislocated, but I imagine that after the first time it hurts pretty bad.  With the Lion's leader on the shelf with a sling on his left shoulder, and Battle in one of his worst shooting slumps of the season (0-7 in the second half), I was sure the season was over and the Lions were once again one and done in the NIT.

Boy was I wrong and for that I'm sorry.  The Lions haven't given up once this season...what was I thinking?

Fast forward three days and the Lions are now resting comfortably, waiting for their third round date with Billy Donovan's Gators.  Not only is he magic still around, but apparently it has never been stronger.  The Lions have won two consecutive post-season games for the first time since 2001, and in doing so, avenged their loss to URI from earlier this season (all without their big-man). 

Now I'm not sure when the third round match up against Florida will be, and I'm not sure if Cornley and Battle will be healthy enough to play...but I am sure about one thing.  Joe was right.  There's NO way this team can lose...not now, not after everything they've accomplished this season.

(I hope.)

FILLING THE CORN(LEY) HOLE

Anybody wondering how the Penn State basketball team would fare next season after the departure of one of the greatest Lions of all time, Jamelle Cornley, had a sneak preview on Thursday night. Just two nights after separating his shoulder in the team's first-round overtime victory against George Mason, Cornley sat out the Lions' game against the Rhode Island Rams, a team that had beaten Penn State earlier in the season. If the game was any indication of how the Lions will do next year without 'Melle, the future is looking bright.

While his energy was certainly missing from the game, a 83-72 Penn State victory, the team certainly showed that it has plenty of viable candidates to replace the senior captains' scoring and rebounding. Not least among them, Jeff Brooks.

Since the wirey sophomore first arrived on campus two seasons ago, the expectations for Brooks have always been bigger than the results. A former runner-up to the title of Mr. Basketball in the state of Kentucky, Brooks was seen as a major recruiting victory for the Lions, and out-of-state gem plucked by the coaching staff to lead the renaissance of the Penn State program. Instead, Brooks has underacheived and frustrated, seeing his minutes dip as the Big Ten season wore on, and losing his starting job to David Jackson. Despite averaging just 16 minutes per game and 3.4 points per game during the regular season, Brooks has blossomed offensively during the first two rounds of the NIT tournament, pouring in a season-high 13 points against George Mason and adding six more against Rhode Island, the first game he's started since February eighth against Wisconsin.

The biggest difference with Brooks appears to be his rising confidence. Too often he would fade away instead of going up strong, appear indecisive with the basketball or just seem overwhelmed on the court. Now, he's making strong assertive moves with the ball in his hands and showing a creativity that could make him a real asset next season.

Brooks was joined by Andrew Jones and Chris Babb as players who stepped their games up to account for Cornley's absence. Jones, who has benefitted from playing alongside a player as tenacious as Cornley, netted a double-double before fouling out and showed a good blend of aggressiveness and finesse in the paint.

Babb has clearly taken over as the heir-apparent to Stanley Pringle. While not as prodigious at driving, he's every bit as deadly an outside shooter, if not better, and has all the tools to develop into a defensive stopper - allowing Talor Battle to conserve more energy for offense.

Should the Lions draw the Florida Gators in the next round in Gainesville, and Thursday's win was the last game in the Bryce Jordan Center for this team, it certainly gave the fans a treat. Not only did it avenge an earlier season loss with a wire-to-wire victory, it gave everybody in attendence reasons to believe that next season just might be better than this one.

THINK THEY'RE MOTIVATED NOW?

Shame on you if you were in the State College vicinity and were not at this game. I'm sure it won't haunt you for years to come.

Talor Battle may have just become a candidate for next year's Player of the Year award.

GIVE 'EM THE HEATER RICKY...

Do you remember the classic baseball movie, Major League? There's a scene about halfway through it when everything has gone wrong for the team. Besides being mired in a horrible season, the Cleveland Indians are also being sabotaged by their ruthless owner in a ploy to get the team moved to sunny Miami, Fl.

Fed up with being treated like dirt, the players realize that the best way to spoil the owner's plan would be to start playing the best baseball of their life and make the franchise viable again. These sentiments are summed up in a classic exchange in the tribe's clubhouse between the team's manager, Lou Brown (played by James Gammon), the thirdbaseman, Roger Dorn (played by Corbin Bernsen), and the team's captain, catcher Jake Taylor (played by Tom Berenger):

Lou Brown: [at a team meeting] Can I have your attention, please?
[picks up a bat and leans on it like a walking stick]
Lou Brown: I have something I think you all ought to know about.It seems that Mrs. Phelps doesn't think too highly of our worth. She put this team together because she thought we'd be bad enough to finish dead last, knocking attendance down to the point where she could move the team to Miami... and get rid of all of us for better personnel.
Roger Dorn: Even me?
Lou Brown: Even you, Dorn.
Eddie Harris: What if we DON'T finish last?
Lou Brown: She'll REPLACE you with somebody who WILL. After this season, you'll be sent back to the minors or given your outright release.
Jake Taylor: [Jake stands up] Well then I guess there's only one thing left to do.
Roger Dorn: What's that?
Jake Taylor: Win the whole fucking thing.
[long pause]
Willie Mays Hayes: [Willie stands up] Yeah.
Pedro Cerrano: [Pedro pounds his hand] YES!

Well, the NCAA has played its hand, rewarding teams like Maryland and Arizona with tourney bids while making the 2009 Penn State team the first in Big Ten history to win at least ten conference games and one game in the post-season tournament to not earn a berth in the Big Dance. Now, it's our turn.

It might not seem like much, but if this team can go out and win the NIT it could serve as proof that the Lions were tournament worthy. And maybe the NCAA won't notice and maybe an NIT championship isn't worth half as much as a sweet sixteen run, but it's still something and it would be a great sendoff for Jamelle Cornley and the other seniors.

As expected, the senior captain took the news pretty hard when he found out Penn State was not invited to the NCAA Tournament, but he seems to have channeled his inner Jake Taylor right in time for the team's game tonight against the George Mason Patriots.

"I know that things didn't really go our way, but there's really no point in me personally to hold my head down when I know that I gave everything I could give," Cornley said. "I know we really, really wanted to get into the NCAA tournament, but it happened and now we're here, so we might as well just win out."
- The Daily Collegian

There's nothing that could replace seeing Penn State's name on those March Madness brackets, but if the Lions can pull it together for one final run, they may still get to raise a banner to the rafters of the Bryce Jordan Center before it's all said and done. Besides, a few more games on national television would help increase exposure for the program and some post-season experience for the younger players could only help their chances of elevating this team in the next few years.

The NIT is not what fans and players hoped for, but it's what they got, so let's just go win the whole fucking thing.

A SEASON TO BE PROUD OF

Region by region, seed by seed the participants of the 2009 tournament were announced. As teams appeared on the screen one by one, thousands of Penn State fans undoubtedly sat at the edge of their seats praying to see those Nittany Lions celebrate from the comfortable seats in the players lounge of the BJC. Unfortunately, one-by-one, bubble teams began appearing on the television screen, beginning with Arizona as a 12-seed in the Midwest bracket. Collective hearts grew heavier as Maryland was awarded a 10-seed in the West, and almost all hope of dancing were lost as Wisconsin received a 12-seed in the East. With one region left to go, CBS cut to the live-shot of the Lions we all were hoping, however it appeared as if the realization had already sunk in as the room looked as uncomfortable as a jail-sentencing.

As the South region was announced and Michigan was awarded the 7th and final Big Ten berth, it was official; the Penn State Nittany Lions were on the outside looking in at another NCAA Tournament. Although the teams dreams of the Sweet 16 are over, the Lions will still be playing in the post-season. The National Invitational Tournament seedings are announced tonight at 9pm, and many members of the media have the Lions projected as a 1-seed, which will be a first for the program.

It's easy to find reasons this squad isn't dancing this season. With the running total of tournamentless seasons now at eight, fans are finding it easy to point fingers in every direction as to whose fault it is. But, give me a reason why and I'll kindly and respectfully disagree with you.

Blame the athletic department? Can't. Yes, it's true Penn State's strength of schedule was the 310th in the country, but fans need to remember that the athletic department is in the middle of a complete renovation of the basketball program. Tired of losing seasons in front of an empty gym, the department needed to purposely schedule some easier non-conference games, which in turn means a winning record, which in turn brings in fans, which in turn creates excitement, which in turn creates a few major wins such as Michigan State and Purdue, which in turn brings in better recruits, which in turn allows you to schedule tougher opponents in the future. You can't just throw on a couple of top-10 teams into your schedule and expect to create a tournament worthy resume. By scheduling the non-conference slate the way they did, the athletic department put the team in the position to make a run during the Big Ten season and earn a tournament berth. To me and clearly to the athletic department, we are still a year or two away from scheduling those top 100 RPI teams prior to the start of conference games. You need to remember, we beat Purdue without their best two players, Michigan State without Raymar Morgan, and Iowa without Cyrus Tate. It's clear that the program has gotten better, but we're not done yet. I believe the team is lucky to have gotten to the point that they did. Sitting on the last-4 out was unheard of for the Lions in previous years but one or two bounces the Lions way and PSU would maybe seen themselves on the last-4 in. As the Lions have created excitement in Happy Valley around the program, the athletic department clearly has this program on the right track.

Blame other teams? How can you? I don't even feel the need to defend where I stand on this one. This is the greatest thing about college basketball - anyone can win at anytime. You can't fault other teams for playing their hearts out with the same goal of seeing their names on the bracket come March (Temple, USC, and Mississippi State are great examples). It was up to Penn State to play their way into the Tournament, and unfortunately it just wasn't in the cards.

Blame the NCAA committee? That's tough to defend as well. Although bids to Arizona, Minnesota and Maryland might not sit well for Nittany Lion fans, each team had strong resumes which trump PSU's in some ways. Not all ways mind you, however obviously just enough to squeeze onto the bracket.

Blame coach Ed DeChellis? Stop it right there. DeChellis has done more for this program in the past couple of years than it shows. With his message of "family", DeChellis has constructed a team that Nittany Nation can now be proud of. No longer can the Lions be circled as an automatic victory on opponents schedules. Although not everyone agrees with his coaching strategies (use of timeouts, use of bench players, etc)., this team has shown periods of greatness this year which have to be credited to the Big Ten Coach of the Year - DeChellis.

While it's true that seeing your team in the "last-four out" column may be the most disappointing and heart-breaking way to end a regular season, it's important that all of Nittany Nation doesn't forget about how amazing this season has been. Senior and team-leader Jamelle Cornley has captured the attention of fans everywhere with his never-quit attitude and determination. Although it's a shame that his dreams of a NCAA Tournament appearance will never come to fruition, I'm not sure if you can find a more-deserving guy in college basketball. He has been the rock of this team and deserves to go down as one of the best student-athletes to have ever put on a Penn State basketball uniform.

Talor Battle has made a name for himself in not only the conference but in also the country. It's easy to say that he has single handily turned this team into a contender and has made PSU hoops fun to watch again. Along with all of the fun, has come some exciting games. Not only have the Lions defeated a top-10 team this season, they defeated multiple top-25 teams, finally won at Assembly Hall, and won at home with a last-second, hit-every-inch-of-the-iron shot, which sent thousands of rabid students to center-court.

Even walk-on senior, Will Leiner who barely ever saw playing time, drew a standing-ovation from a near capacity crowd as he slashed through the lane against Indiana for a up-and-under move reminiscent of Jason Kidd.

While it's true that both the players and fans won't sleep great tonight after the Lions weren't selected, it is true that this has been a season to remember. The players won't have too much time to dwell on that, however, as it's back to practice on Monday in preparation for their first round NIT game.

Although it most likely won't happen, these kids deserve a sell-out for their first round game, and a standing ovation as they enter the gym. This has been a season to be proud of.

MORE BIG TEN BASHING

ESPN.com writer Pat Forde offered his latest backhanded compliment to the Big Ten today. Forde, who predicted that Indiana would upset Penn State yesterday, now seems bewildered that the conference might get eight teams into the NCAA Tournament. He points out that it would be "surreal" for the Big Ten to have more bids than the ACC or the Big East, and that it could produce "Linda Blair 'Exorcist' reactions."

Although Forde includes that the "season-long, nationwide concensus" has been that the ACC and Big East are clearly superior to the Big Ten, the RPI ratings sing a different tune. According to the lastest rankings, the Big Ten is ranked as the second toughest conference in the country behind only the ACC. The Big East comes in at fourth, behind the Big XII.

Forde also makes sure to single out Penn State from the other teams that won in Indianapolis yesterday:

So simply by avoiding a really bad day, the Gophers, Wolverines and Nittany Lions had a really good day. It's not clear beyond a doubt that they locked themselves into the bracket -- especially Penn State -- but they certainly did not kick themselves out.

I was hoping that once football season was over, the Big Ten bashing would end too but it seems like some writers are on a mission to put the conference down. Instead of pointing out how three of the top four seeds in the Big XII lost in their first conference tourney game, or how UConn and Pitt both got bounced in their first action of the Big East tourney - Forde wishes to point out the horror of eight Big Ten teams earning a berth in the tournament. Thankfully we're just 48 hours away from learning exactly what the field of 65 will look like and whose bubbles have burst. Maybe then we can be spared of being reminded just how pathetic and weak the Big Ten is.

MOMENT OF TRUTH

I mentioned yesterday in a post that this has been a year of stepping stones for the PSU program. Along with breaking the 20-win mark (a huge feat), the Nittany Lions have cleared a lot of hurdles that were deemed impassable in the past. The Lions have finally won in Assembly Hall, finally finished in the top half of the Big Ten, and finally removed the dusty black curtains from the upper deck of the BJC.

Beginning this evening, the Lions will try to hurdle yet another obstacle. The Big Ten Tournament has been a frustrating stick in the spokes of the Penn State basketball program since its commencement - 12 years ago. With just one tournament win in the past seven years, the Lions season has often come to an end with the first round of tournament play. Penn State has only twice reached the semifinals (2000 and 2001), and will hope to add to that number tonight when they face Indiana.

Entering the tournament with their highest seed ever (6), the Lions are playing a team they've only seen once in Big Ten post-season play. In the first round of the 2003 Big Ten Tournament, the Lions were handed their worst tourney loss ever, 77-49. Hopefully using that as motivation, the Lions will try to clear one more hurdle this season as their hopes of an NCAA tournament berth live and die with this evening's contest. Unfortunately, they're playing a team that has nothing to lose only 30-miles from their campus.

Talor Battle has told the Centre Daily Times, "we’re going to go out and really try to throw the knockout punch early. They’re a feel-good team; they start hitting some shots, they start to believe they can beat you.”

I hope Battle proves to be true to his word, because tonight's contest is clearly the Lions moment of truth.

DVR - Don't fail me now.

SO FAR, SO GOOD

After the first few conference post-season tournaments, things have pretty much gone Penn State's way. Since the Lions are squarely on the bubble, it would be best for their tourney hopes if no at-large bid worthy team lost in its conference tournament. When squads like Gonzaga and Siena took their conference hardware on Monday night, it meant that the full complement of at-large bids were still up for grabs. Teams like Davidson and Creighton could potentially get an at-large bid after getting bounced from their respective conference brackets, but I think both of those teams are behind Penn State anyway.

The real threat to Penn State's chances will come later this week when the other major conference's tournaments begin. Should a team other than LSU or Auburn win the SEC, or a team like Cincinnati, Notre Dame or Georgetown cut down the nets in the Big East tournament, they could potentially take a spot away from Penn State. But all this speculating about other conference tournaments is a bit premature, the Lions really only have one thing to worry about, the Indiana Hoosiers.

If there were one team I didn't want Penn State to play in the conference tournament besides Michigan State, it would be Indiana. The Hoosiers not only came within three points of ruining the Lions' senior day at the Bryce Jordan Center earlier this season, but they have home court advantage and absolutely nothing to lose. Still, if the Lions can't beat Indiana with their tournament hopes on the line, they probably don't deserve an at-large bid after all.

Drawing the Hoosiers could be the one silver lining of the Lions' precipitous fall from a potential #2 seed in the Big Ten tournament down to #6. Yes, the Lions lost out on a first-round bye, but they also earned a chance to pick up an important win against the last-place team in the conference and landed in the opposite half of the bracket from top-seeded Michigan State and Wisconsin, a team we just can't seem to solve.

Should Penn State pad its tournament resume with another victory, it will make it that much tougher for the committee to exclude them on selection sunday. On the other end of the coin, should the Lions end their season with back-to-back losses to the conferences two worst teams, Iowa and Indiana, I'll remind you that you can't spell Nittany without N.I.T.