What Penn State Basketball must do to keep flickering NIT hopes alive

Is a .500 finish even feasible for Penn State Basketball?

Penn State Basketball is currently 9-11, two games under .500 with eight games plus the Big Ten Tournament.

Currently, Penn State is in 11th place in the conference, meaning they would play the No. 14 seed in the first round (likely Nebraska) with the winner advancing to play the No. 6 seed (currently, somehow, Rutgers).

But, unless the Lions can win five games in five  days, Penn State will accumulate another loss in the tournament.

Penn State Basketball also travels to No. 13 Illinois and hosts No. 17 Michigan State, where they will be significant underdogs in both.

That’s a minimum of three more losses added to their record by the end of the year.

That leaves the following regular-season games:

2/12 — at Minnesota

2/17 — vs Minnesota

2/21 — at Maryland

2/25 — vs Northwestern

2/27 — vs Nebraska

3/6 — at Rutgers

Assuming losses at Illinois and home Michigan State, Penn State would need to go 5-1 in the above games to reach 14-14.  One win (minimum) and one loss in the Big Ten Tournament would assure Penn State of finishing with a .500 record.

So, can Penn State basketball go 5-1 in those six games?

The Nittany Lions will likely be underdogs at Minnesota, at Maryland, and at Rutgers.  All are winnable games, of course, but all places Penn State very rarely ever wins. Penn State Basketball will be favorites at home vs Northwestern and Nebraska and likely Minnesota.

Finishing 3-3 is a reasonable prognostication in those six games as they are all teams around/below them in the conference standings.

But, to expect 5-1 is sadly unrealistic.

This Nittany Lion team’s longest winning streak of the year is, gulp, two games.

They have two, two game-winning streaks.  That’s it. And considering Penn State has lost five of their last six games, even 4-2 would seem unlikely, which means Penn State would have to win at Illinois, home vs Sparty, or more than one game in the Big Ten Tournament.

The sad truth is the NIT would still be possible if Penn State Basketball was able to play their entire non-conference schedule.

Sure, the road game at VCU would have been a very tough win, but the Nittany Lions lost the opportunity to play winnable games at home vs Quinnipiac and Delaware State.  And after recently announcing they won’t be rescheduling the canceled games, the sad truth is post-season play is simply quite unlikely for the Penn State Nittany Lions Basketball team.