NCAA Tournament March Madness

#118 Penn St

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Projection: likely out

Penn State’s resume simply does not have the kind of signature win a committee rewards and it is weighted down by some genuinely damaging losses away from home and at neutral sites. The nonconference ledger is full of victories over inferior opponents while neutral-site defeats to Providence, Pittsburgh and Illinois and lopsided road losses at Indiana and Maryland show an inability to close the loop against quality foes. There are encouraging competitive performances against Michigan State and Michigan that suggest the program can hang with the league’s best on a given night, but those near-misses do not erase the pattern of road and neutral-site struggles. The remaining slate includes a handful of home games against middling league opponents that could repair the resume and several very difficult on-the-road tests that, if won, would change the conversation, but as it stands the profile reads like a team short on meaningful wins and marred by too many bad losses.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3Fairfield263W76-68
11/8@New Haven338W87-43
11/11Navy193W80-71
11/15(N)La Salle219W83-69
11/19Harvard171W84-80
11/22(N)Providence64L77-65
11/25Boston Univ291W96-87
11/29Sacred Heart272W90-59
12/2Campbell182W87-76
12/9@Indiana38L113-72
12/13Michigan St9L76-72
12/21(N)Pittsburgh98L80-46
12/29NC Central349W90-67
1/3Illinois8L73-65
1/6Michigan1L74-72
1/10@Purdue6L93-85
1/14UCLA39L71-60
1/18@Maryland115L96-73
1/22Wisconsin4029%
1/26@Ohio St3512%
1/29@Northwestern6121%
2/1Minnesota8347%
2/5@Michigan11%
2/8USC5135%
2/11@Washington5017%
2/14@Oregon9029%
2/18Rutgers14268%
2/21@Nebraska135%
2/28Iowa2017%
3/4Ohio St3526%
3/8@Rutgers14246%