Following Monday’s Big Ten Tournament semifinal loss to the No. 4 Wisconsin Badgers, Penn State men’s hockey head coach Guy Gadowsky was hesitant to reflect on a season that he doesn’t think should be over.

“We’re not looking back at anything yet,” Gadowsky said. “If you look at what we did after the start we had, which was affected by COVID, we’re up there with the best in the country.”

The Nittany Lions finished the season with a below-.500 record of 10-12. Factor in an 0-5 start and a 34-day hiatus due to a COVID-19 outbreak and one can safely say Penn State faced its fair share of adversity over the course of the season.

In this year’s NCAA Tournament, six conference champions will enter the bracket, joined by 10 at-large bids available. With the lack of crossover games between conferences this season, the NCAA selection committee will likely rely more on in-conference comparisons and the “eye test” than national rankings.

Luckily, Gadowsky believes Penn State’s resume speaks volumes.

“Once we got through our 0-5 start, we were one of the hottest teams in the country in what is, in my opinion, the hardest conference in the nation,” Gadowsky said.

Penn State’s season started with four away games in six nights against the two best teams in the conference, Minnesota and Wisconsin. On that initial road trip, the team was mostly concerned about traveling amid the pandemic.

“We didn’t know how to eat, how to sit in the dressing room,” Gadowsky said. “We were more concerned about all of this rather than the play on the ice itself.”

After coming back from that initial road trip, the Nittany Lions dropped one game to No. 7 Michigan before going 9-4 ahead of the COVID-19 breakout-forced shutdown. That 13-game stretch included a 9-5 win over Michigan, a series sweep over No. 20 Arizona State, and a big victory over No. 12 Wisconsin.

Conditioning issues and minimal practice plagued the Nittany Lions as Penn State went into South Bend following a long hiatus and got swept in ugly fashion by Notre Dame.

Entering the Big Ten Tournament, the Nittany Lions seemed to be down and out, but they battled back again.

“We came here to the tournament and beat a team on its home ice, then forced overtime against the best team in our conference,” Gadowsky said.

The resume is there for the Nittany Lions despite a poor record on paper. Monday’s game proved that Penn State could hang with the best of them. The Nittany Lions have multiple top-20 wins on the season and received votes to rank in the USCHO top-20 before their hiatus.

Does Penn State’s resume match up to other teams around the country vying for an at-large bid? Two of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin will be a part of the tournament as at-large selections, with another in as conference champion. That likely leaves eight more at-large bids open that the Nittany Lions could possibly slide into.

Realistically, a lot would need to go right for the Nittany Lions to make the big dance and take a run at the Frozen Four. Penn State is currently tied for 29th in the country in the USCHO PairWise rankings, which will be used to determine who gets an at-large bid. The selection committee would really need to like the Nittany Lions’ resume before Penn State could hear its name called on Selection Sunday.

“We are one of the best teams in the country, and hopefully, we’ll get that chance to prove it on the national stage,” Gadowsky said.