Penn State Basketball: 5 BOLD predictions for the Nittany Lions’ season

Bold Prediction #4 — PSU will defeat a ranked team…on the road!

It’s not super bold to expect Penn State to beat a ranked team, they do that almost every year by now.

But, it’s most often at home, and much more rare on the road.

Let’s look at the potentially ranked teams PSU could play on the road:

12/11 — Michigan State

1/16 — Ohio State

1/22 — Iowa

1/26 — Indiana

2/5 — Wisconsin

2/21 — Maryland

3/3 — Illinois

Penn State is going to win one of those games.

Which one?

Well, that’s a bit harder to predict but I could easily see PSU winning a mid-week game in Bloomington and for some reason, they always play Sparty tough (unfortunate scheduling as it’s the conference opener for MSU on a Saturday before students leave for break).

Bold Prediction #5 — PSU is going to lose 4 straight conference games

We all know the B1G is brutally difficult, but four straight losses is crushing … that’s 20% of the conference schedule.

But, let’s look at the schedule and see where this could happen:

Option #1: 12/5 — hosting #17 OSU, 12/11 — at Michigan State, 1/2 — hosting Indiana, 1/5 — at Northwestern

Penn State will be underdogs in those first three games easily, making that fourth game in Evanston very crucial to avoid an 0-4 start in the conference

Option #2: 1/22 — at Iowa, 1/26 — at Indiana, 1/31 — home vs Iowa, 2/5 — at Wisconsin (and the fifth game hosting #6 Michigan on 2/8)

This is another stretch (5 games!) where Penn State will be underdogs throughout.  Like Wisconsin a year ago, it’s tough to beat a team twice in the span of 10 days so hopefully, the Nittany Lions can get one of those vs the Hawkeyes.

Option #3 — 2/8 vs #6 Michigan, 2/12 at Minnesota, 2/15 vs Michigan State, 2/21 at #21 Maryland

Minnesota isn’t very good but it’s always difficult to win at the Barn, especially given the long travel time to get there.  We NEVER win at Maryland (look for at least 40 fouls to be called on the Nittany Lions at the XFinity Center…I think Harrar just picked up his 3rd foul in the first half) but this is the third absolutely brutal four-game stretch.

And yes, option 3 takes place right after option 2…essentially making an 8 game stretch where Penn State may not be favored one time.