The Past 80 hours in Penn State Basketball

Ten steps forward, one step back, another five forward. That pretty much sums up the past four days in Penn State men's basketball. In case you missed any of it, here's the rundown of what happened since Thursday night's win over Indiana in the Big Ten first round.

It's "Just Win the Big Ten Tourney Time... or Is It?" (Eric)

Big Ten Tournament Bracket

Penn State downs Wisconsin, Battle sets Career Record (Ryan)

Poll: MSU(-1) vs PSU

This Week is Actually a Repeat of 2001 (Tim)

Penn State vs Michigan State In-Game Blog (Ryan)

March is a Beautiful Thing (Eric)

Live Blog: Big Ten Tourney Final, OSU vs PSU

THEY'RE IN: Penn State a 10-Seed in the NCAA Tournament, will face Temple

Stay tuned for more this week as Penn State gears up for Thursday!

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LIVE BLOG: 2011 Big Ten Men's Hoops Final - Penn State vs Ohio State

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March is a Beautiful Thing

Yes, Penn State could actually
win this today. PHOTO:
Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Today's Selection Sunday, but the madness has already begun. Penn State has taken the bubble world by storm with 3 straight victories at the Big Ten Tournament. I mean just wrap your head around this fact. Today, our Fighting DeChellises (to quote Tim) are going to be lacing up the sneakers to play for a Big Ten Title. That's right, a championship trophy. They are in the championship game of one of the best basketball conferences in the land.

A little unprecedented, huh? Who could have predicted this? (Ans: Mike Rothstein, apparently)

I don't think people have truly realized what PSU has done the last few days. Granted, there really hasn't been much time for any of this to sink in, nor have the Lions been particularly impressive in some of these victories. They didn't play all that well against Indiana or Wisconsin, but they survived and advanced. Yesterday, with a chance to seemingly put themselves firmly in the NCAA tournament, the Nittany Lions took a blow on the chin early from the Spartans, then rolled on their way to a convincing 61-48 victory. Tim Frazier had the game of his life and Talor Battle, after going through one of the most horrendous stretches of basketball I've ever seen, caught fire in the second half (with 4 straight threes in 2 minutes).

Poll: Big Ten semifinals - Michigan State (-1) over Penn State

College hoops guru Ken Pomeroy lists Penn State as a one-point underdog against Michigan State today in the Big Ten semi-final round. All things considered, that's not bad. Penn State basically has a 45% shot to make the Big Ten FINAL! On top of it, the Nittany Lions are surely in the NCAA tournament with a win over the Spartans.

So, we'll let you have at this one.

Ken Pom has MSU (-1) today over PSU. Winner?

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Penn State beats Wisconsin in snoozer, Talor Battle breaks career scoring record

Talor Battle had struggled all game long, connecting on just three of sixteen shots. But with a critical 3-point bucket late in the second half, Talor Battle officially became the all time leading scorer in Penn State basketball history.

The Game...

Video: 2001 Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal, Penn State vs #3 Michigan State

Until beating North Carolina to reach the Sweet 16 that year, No. 2 Michigan State was the biggest upset win in Penn State basketball history. For more, I'll let the New York Times recap what happened, then you can watch the video.

2011 Big Ten Tournament Bracket

In case you're not the avid hoops fan, here is the men's tournament bracket.

Plus, Eric's look at Penn State's situation going into the final chance to reach the NCAAs. Today's game will be on the Big Ten Network. So good luck if you're a Penn State fan outside the commonwealth. Of course, you could always follow our writers on Twitter during the game for updates and immediate in-game reactions. Then again, you should be following us anyway on Twitter and Facebook! (yes, that was absolutely a shameless social media plug)

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It's 'Just Win the Big Ten Tourney' time... or is it?

First and foremost, thanks to all for the warm welcome to LBU. I'm very excited to start blogging with all the other great guys here. Most of you know me already and my devotion to this wonderful basketball program (and my alleged assault against Talor Battle). If you don't, I look forward to getting to know you. Tweet me.

Anyway, here we are in Championship Week and the Nittany Lions' NCAA hopes are dwindling. If this was October, you'd be surprised they weren't dead yet. If this was December 22nd, you would've hoped DeChellis was fired at this point already. If this was January 31st, there would probably be some mixed feelings. But after finally looking like a legitimate threat with the Wisconsin upset, the Lions proceeded to limp all over the place the rest of the season. The only reason this team is still alive is because 1 - Northwestern was on the schedule twice and 2 - Minnesota pretty much imploded every way imaginable.

This is college basketball, though, and at this time of the year, if you're on the bubble, it is all about what does team X have to do? And as usual, the answer is always 'it depends'. For the Nittany Lions' sake, they just need to win. Jerry Palm was quoted that the Nits will need to win the BTT. I almost always take him for his word, but I think he might be a little off base here. I don't think PSU is that far from entering the Big Dance. If they win 3 games (which would probably include upsets of Wisconsin and Purdue), I think they'd be in. Heck, maybe just 2 wins might get it done, but they'll need some help around the bubblesphere. So, according to the annual measuring stick of this program's yearly success, the 'we just need to win the BTT' battle cry is nullified. The season has already been declared a success.

Tim Curley: Winning Is Overrated

Well, after fighting like hell during an 0-12 start to the Big Ten slate and playing nearly every game down to the wire, PSU finally came out and showed virtually zilch in the "heart and desire" department at the worst possible time. Quite frankly, I don't have the heart or desire to go in-depth on the disgusting display of basketball I witnessed during last night's 76-55 shellacking at the hands of Minnesota. Talk about a 'tease,' if the players were going to give up on the season and act like they could care less, why did they wait until now? Why didn't they just throw in the towel ten games ago? I would've known better than to actually have hope that they could possibly spring a couple of upsets and make a deep run into the Big Ten tournament.

Minnesota: The First Victim On PSU's Big Ten Tournament Destruction List

And so it begins, 7:30 PM ET on BTN, the final opening round matchup of the Big Ten Tournament between Penn State and Minnesota. The Gophers swept PSU during the regular season but as you all know, it's rather difficult to beat the same team three times in one year. Not to mention, this is a PSU team that's been a resilient bunch throughout the year, with very few blowout losses in Big Ten play, not your typical 3-15 team to say the least.

Everything Is Going According To Plan

So, Penn State has secured its #11 seed for the Big Ten Tournament after last Saturday's 64-60 loss to Purdue at home.* Needless to say, Ed DeChellis' plan is being executed to perfection.

Big Ten Tournament Preview: Lady Lions vs. Minnesota

The Lady Lions haven't had much to celebrate during these last few weeks, pretty much due to their 1-8 finish during Big Ten play. Still, Penn State (16-12, 8-10) has managed to put together a halfway decent campaign, grabbing a No. 6 seed in the Big Ten women's basketball tournament. They will tip off the first round (Big Ten Network, 2:30 p.m. EST) against the No. 11 Minnesota Golden Gophers (13-16, 6-12). Whatever happens this afternoon, nothing should be unexpected.