On Thursday, the NCAA officially voted to expand its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments from 68 to 76 participants beginning in 2027. The play-in round, formerly known as the FIrst Four, will increase from eight teams to 24, with the victors moving on to the Round of 64.
For many programs around the country, this news is cause to celebrate. The Nittany Lions, however, will likely not be one of them.
Head coach Mike Rhoades faced the unenviable task of rebuilding a roster on the fly after Penn State suffered numerous losses to the Transfer Portal. With the exception of forward Josh Reed, who exhausted his eligibility, 10 of the Nittany Lions’ top 11 scorers from a season ago will be playing elsewhere in 2026-27.
The biggest hit to Rhoades’ squad was the departure of guard Kayden Mingo. The rising sophomore and former four-star recruit entered the portal on April 8 and signed with Baylor roughly a week later.
As of now, Penn State has just three returnees, although that group includes seven-footer forward Ivan Juric. The rising sophomore started 26 games last season, averaging 10.2 points per contest.
Rhoades managed to bring in some intriguing talent this offseason. The blue and white landed Brant Byers, a sharpshooting wing from Miami (Ohio), on April 14. The Chambersburg, Pa. native was the second-leading scorer for a RedHawks team that went 32-2 and reached the NCAA Tournament. Byers was named to the All-MAC Second Team in 2025-26, and earned the conference’s Freshman of the Year honors the season prior.
A couple of other portal additions bring needed experience to the fold — something Rhoades named as a priority.
"The reality is when you're really young in Power Four basketball, you're at a disadvantage. We need to address that, and we need to get our young guys bigger, better and badder and stronger,” Rhoades said after Penn State’s season ended in the Big Ten Tournament. “You got to be old. You got to be old because everybody else is, and the best teams in our league and the best teams in the country are old and experienced. We got to address some of that."
The Nittany Lions have an uphill battle as they attempt to climb out of the Big Ten’s basement. In Rhoades’ three seasons, Penn State is 18-42 in conference play, including a last-place mark of 3-17 in 2025-26.
A major turnaround is a lot to ask of a team with so many new faces. It’s even harder when playing in a league that includes four Elite Eight teams and reigning national champion Michigan, no matter how much the NCAA expands its bracket.
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