Andy Katz Projects Penn State Hoops To Make The NCAA Tournament
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: THIS is the year for Penn State men’s basketball.
According to NCAA.com writer Andy Katz, the Nittany Lions will be one of eight teams from the Big Ten to make it to the NCAA tournament following the 2019-20 regular season.
Katz has been high on the Nittany Lions all off-season He ranked them as a No. 8 seed in his first bracket of the year. Penn State was also the featured team for his bold predictions for the upcoming year.
Deep Run Potential from the @bigten:
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) September 24, 2019
1. @MSU_Basketball
2. @TerrapinHoops #MarchMadness Bound:
3. @BoilerBall
4. @IlliniMBB
5. @OhioStateHoops
6. @BadgerMBB
7. @umichbball
8. @PennStateMBB
Full @B1GMBBall preview from @TheAndyKatz!pic.twitter.com/ynuxQWVdAh
If Pat Chambers manages to pull off the seemingly impossible and guide Penn State to the NCAA tournament, it would be the team’s first appearance in the Big Dance since 2011. The Nittany Lions were bounced in the first round of that year’s NCAA tournament by Temple. They haven’t won a March Madness game since 2001.
Chambers hasn’t done much to exactly inspire confidence in a possible NCAA tournament appearance, but he did coach the team to an NIT tournament championship in 2018. The 2018-19 season got off to a disastrous start for the Nittany Lions, but in fairness, they did end the regular season by winning six of eight games. That 6-2 stretch, of course, came after Penn State opened conference play with an 0-10 record.
Chambers has only finished with a winning record twice during his previous eight seasons in charge of the Nittany Lions. That apparently hasn’t stopped a national writer like Katz from jumping on the team’s hype train.
This year, Penn State will be led by first-team All-Big Ten senior Lamar Stevens and senior Mike Watkins. It’ll kick off the 2019-20 season against University of Maryland-Eastern Shore on November 5 at the Bryce Jordan Center.
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