Penn State Basketball: Nittany Lions Fall to No. 16 in Latest AP Poll

Penn State men’s basketball tumbled to No. 16 in this week’s AP Top 25 poll after a winless week of action.

The Nittany Lions (20-7, 10-6 Big Ten) lost to Illinois 62-56 at the Bryce Jordan Center last Tuesday before falling 68-60 on the road against Indiana on Sunday.

Despite dropping consecutive games for the first time since January, Pat Chambers’ program is still in great shape when it comes to the conference and national equations. If the season ended today, Penn State would earn a double-bye in the Big Ten tournament as the conference’s No. 2 seed. The Nittany Lions are also a virtual lock to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011.

After struggling in 2018-19, Penn State is enjoying unprecedented levels of success in the AP Top 25 poll. The team was ranked No. 9 in the poll last week, which tied a program record for its best-ever ranking. It first entered the AP Top 25 poll on December 16 — the program’s first ranking since 1996.

Penn State has now featured in the poll for five consecutive weeks and nine total weeks this season. The Nittany Lions’ program record for consecutive weeks spent ranked by the AP is a 10-week stretch set back in 1996. 

As far as the present is concerned, however, No. 16 Penn State has a pair of Big Ten rematches to deal with this week. The team will play Rutgers at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Bryce Jordan Center before traveling to Iowa City for a contest against No. 18 Iowa at noon on Saturday. Both games will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.