Why Penn State men’s basketball isn’t concerning itself with NCAA bracket projections — yet
The Nittany Lions know there’s noise. They know the rankings are higher than they have been in decades, they know the projections are better than they have been in most of their lifetimes and that their place in the standings is better than even the most optimistic fans would have predicted.
They know the noise is there.
They’re just not listening.
The Penn State men’s basketball team is prepping for its showdown with the Purdue Boilermakers like it has for every other matchup: one step at a time.
“I continue to talk about putting your walls up and making sure you’re staying off social media and (not falling) in love with the headlines or the press clippings,” head coach Pat Chambers said. “Just keep moving forward, keep showing up, keep getting better. It’s about Penn State basketball.”
There have been plenty of opportunities for those walls to come down.
The Nittany Lions were ranked No. 13 in the country in Monday’s Associated Press Top 25 poll, the highest they’ve been ranked all season, and are popping up as a No. 4 or No. 5 seed in most NCAA bracket projections, including those from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and Sporting News’ Michael DeCourcy.
But there was one projection the Nittany Lions were left out of, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s top-16 bracket preview on Saturday.
Chambers was adamant, however, that none of that is of concern to his team.
“It really doesn’t matter today,” he said. “It matters March 10 a lot more than it does today. So I’m not going to waste my energy on (the top 16). It’s a waste of time. Let’s keep proving them wrong. Let’s keep showing up, let’s keep winning games, let’s keep getting better, let’s keep trying to be the best team that we can be by the end of the year.”
The committee didn’t even give Penn State a mention when it released its top four seeds in each bracket if the season ended last Saturday, while teams the Nttany Lions have wins over, such as Michigan State and Maryland, made it in.
“I don’t know if we got the respect that we deserve,” Chambers said. “But it’s understandable. I get it. We have to keep winning.”
Chambers isn’t overly concerned with the lack of respect. He wants his players to keep their minds on the task at hand and live in the moment. After the bracket preview came out, his team went out and took care of Minnesota 83-77. Early this week, their focus is on Purdue.
The Boilermakers, while only 13-10, are the No. 13 team in Ken Pomeroy’s KenPom rankings. They’re on a three-game winning streak and have only two losses at home this season. Chambers and his Nittany Lions know what they’re traveling into Tuesday night when they take on Purdue and they’re doing their best to be ready for it.
“Purdue does what Purdue does,” Chambers said. “(Purdue head coach) Matt (Painter), first of all is a great coach, but they’ve had some tough stretches where they couldn’t score the basketball. Now they’re hitting on all cylinders.”
Two of Purdue’s biggest threats are their two big men. Junior Matt Haarms and sophomore Trevion Williams present an interesting challenge because of their styles of play.
Williams is a stockier big with the physicality to dominate in the low post but the touch to occasionally step out and make shots. Defensively he uses his size to stifle opponents and is difficult to move in the post.
Haarms is long and slender with an easily movable from, but a wingspan that can be a nightmare for attacking offensive players. He does most of his work around the rim on offense and is a premier shot blocker on defense.
Together they present a challenge, even if they don’t share the court much. The contrast in styles would be hard for most big men to prepare for, but a veteran like junior John Harrar, who has played in 82 games in his career, says the Big Ten has him ready for this moment.
“I like to call the league of the bigs,” Harrar said. “The Big Ten has great big men. I’ve seen a guy like Williams and a guy like Haarms. They’re great players and I’m excited to play against them but I think over all of my Big Ten career I’ve seen bigs who play just like them and have the same tendencies. I think I’ve been preparing for those two for three years now.”
He’ll need to be ready for the matchup. A win would extend Penn State’s winning streak to seven games and make a Big Ten regular season title a very attainable goal.
If the Nittany Lions win the Big Ten, they’ll be impossible for the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to ignore.
This story was originally published February 10, 2020 at 5:39 PM.
