SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Penn State men's basketball coach Pat Chambers is in the midst of his seventh season and despite last week's 71-70 loss to Rider, athletic director Sandy Barbour isn't hitting the panic button on the program.
At least not publicly. Barbour, who met with the media Thursday for the first time since July, reiterated a stance she took last spring when asked what Chambers' program needs to prove this season in order for her to be reassured that he's the best candidate for the job and that this program is trending upward. She insists there isn't any extra pressure on Chambers this season.
"First of all, and I said it before, there's nobody putting more pressure on Patrick than Patrick himself as a competitor and that's true of all of us," Barbour said. "I don't think anything has changed from the conversations I had with Patrick over the summer to those I've had with you all. Where we need to see progress is in the Big Ten, is in our schedule. Obviously we played the two early games and had a great win at Iowa, little bit disappointing loss at home to Wisconsin, but that entire Big Ten schedule is ahead of us. I think we've got a great chance to make noise in the Big Ten and do something in the postseason.
Other highlights from Barbour's media session, her first with reporters since July:
Q: After this season played out since we asked you in July as well, has anything changed your mind about non-conference scheduling?
A: "Yeah, that's probably the biggest challenge. I've been asked a lot in the last month if I think that the Playoff Committee got it right, is the Playoff structured correctly. From an institutional standpoint I still think the biggest challenge is what signals does the committee send, what guidance is the College Football Playoff giving us from a non-conference scheduling standpoint because obviously what we want to do is put ourselves in the best position to be selected every year, to be in the conversation to be selected. I will say this: I think there have been mixed signals. That does make it difficult giving us direction. I think given that we're now in year four and the Pac-12 has been left out twice, the Big 12 has been left out twice -- not represented, obviously in a four-team playoff somebody is going to be left out -- and now the Big Ten this year, there's going to be some conversations and there should be. There always should be conversations and refinement. From a Penn State centered perspective, one of the main things I'm looking for is guidance around what we need to do from a non-conference schedule to put ourselves in the best position to be in the conversation to be selected."
Q: What were those mixed signals?
A: "I just think in the last couple of years, I think the first two years they were fairly consistent and let's also not forget, this committee is turning over. I don't think the number is even and set the same every year. I think there are six members going off of this committee at the end of this year so that will be pretty significant turnover. ... I think the first couple years the signal was around strength of schedule and the last two years I think the signal was a little more iffy."
Q: Going off of schedule has there been any progress or any talks with Pitt about potentially extending this series or where does that stand?
A: "We talked when they were here in State College in September, but there's been no progress at this point in time."
Q: Has success on the football field translated more to the facility master plan with fundraising where you all feel comfortable announcing more strategies for some of these renovations?
A: "The renovations around football, around Lasch have been ongoing, as has our fundraising and I think we're making good progress there, probably not as quickly as the most aggressive of us would like but that will come in time. Where we are with the rest of the masterplan, we're in a feasibility study phase where we're actually assessing what our opporutnies might be from a fundraising standpoint. I think once we have that information we'll have the opportunity to start moving forward more judiciously."
Q: What were the Lasch upgrades?
A: "The most recent would be some of the things we finished around hydrotherapy, obviously the locker room two summers ago, but there's an entire masterplan for Lasch that includes the position meeting rooms, players lounge, some of those kinds of things that are on the docket."
Q: Are there plans for another concert in Beaver Stadium this year or any other events as you guys try and use the facility more than a handful of times per year?
A: "We are looking at several things as a potential for Beaver Stadium, perhaps as soon as this summer or perhaps the next summer. It's a matter of scheduling, it's a matter of what events we can book."
Q: Would an eight-team College Football Playoff solve some of those problems, or mixed signals, you mentioned?
A: "I don't know if it would solve some of the problems around strength of schedule. I think some of the latitude around the committee and the turnover has more to do with how do we schedule to best position ourselves from a Playoff standpoint. Whether you want to talk about six team, whether you want to talk about eight team, none of that solves all of the issues. The only thing it would solve is you could make the Power-5 conferences, the autonomy conferences automatics. That you could solve, but then you create other opportunities for debate around who is No. 6? Or, in an eight-team Playoff, who is seven or 8? ... That's part of the fun of it."
QUICK HITS
• With Penn State's attendance up this year Barbour said that still doesn't impact the facility masterplan, which calls for reducing the capacity in Beaver Stadium to roughly 103,000. Now, nothing is set in stone with the plan since they're still raising funds, but it's worth noting that the capacity changes won't be impacted regardless of how attendance ends up the next few seasons.
"The plans around Beaver Stadium are around fan experience," she said. "We think those are needed regardless."
• Penn State still would like to one day host the Winter Classic, but in order for that to happen Penn State first would need to complete that portion of the facility masterplan that would allow Beaver Stadium to be fully functional in the winter. The stadium currently gets winterized at the conclusion of football season thus not making it possible to be used for such an event in January. With Beaver Stadium not expected to be touched for at least 5-plus years based off the plan that was released last winter it looks like hopes of that event coming to State College would be a ways away.
• Barbour said she didn't want to focus on the fact that both schools in the Fiesta Bowl are led by female athletic directors.
"I think it means that from a gender standpoint we're making strides," Barbour said. "But, both Jenn Cohen and I are both very good friends and we want this to be about our football programs, our programs and our student athletes, or football programs, our institutions, our staffs that have done all of the work. Jenn and I just happen to be the leader of those programs."
