STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – In the end it wasn’t even close for the Nittany Lions who didn’t hear their name called during the NCAA Tournament selection show.
It was expected that Penn State’s three wins against Ohio State would carry some weight, but the harsh reality of Penn State being able to compete with many teams in the tournament versus having the resume to actually get in proved to be too much for Pat Chambers’ group to overcome. As the Lions gathered in the film room to watch the selection show -- the first time they've ever even been close enough to watch together for the past seven years -- Penn State wasn't even among the first four out. Even Nebraska (22-10, 13-5 Big Ten) was left out ahead of them.
"I thought they were really going to hold the Quad 1, the metrics, I thought they were going to hold some weight with 21 wins, two wins in the Big Ten Tournament, an unranked team beating a ranked team and all those fabulous statistics, but it didn't hold true," Chambers said Sunday night. "Historically, they said typically this team gets in, but this year we did not. ... In general, the Big Ten didn't get much respect."
Penn State (21-13, 9-9 Big Ten) — which hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2011 — is the fourth seed in the NIT where they will host fifth-seeded Temple (17-15, 8-10 A-10) in the Bryce Jordan Center on Wednesday at 8 p.m.
For a Penn State program that’s built around former Philly standouts there should be some regional interest in this one and keep in mind it was Temple that booted Penn State from the NCAA Tournament back in 2011 and also eliminated Penn State in the Sweet Sixteen in 2001. If Penn State would beat Temple the Lions could potentially play top-seeded Notre Dame, which would generate some buzz between two schools that generally don’t like one another regardless of the sport. The Irish open with eighth-seeded Hampton.
"I told them to be upset now, be disappointed now, but in a couple hours that's over with," Chambers said. "We're going to get up tomorrow, we're going to get better, we're going to compete in one of the better NIT brackets I've seen in a long time. ... It should be easy to get them ready to play."
The NIT berth is Penn State’s first since 2009 and that one went well for the program as the season ended with the Nittany Lions beating Baylor and cutting down the net at Madison Square Garden. During Chambers’ tenure Penn State has never made an NCAA Tournament and the team’s only other postseason appearance under Chambers came in the CBI in 2014.
With this game coming against Temple, which is a team these Lions are very familiar with and with many of them playing pick-up hoops together in the summer, Chambers said that opponent should help Penn State move past their Sunday night dejection. After waiting and waiting as the selection show went in alphabetical order, Lamar Stevens said Sunday night he ultimately moved past the disappointment was excited because he's always wanted to play against Temple.
"We just want to play," senior Shep Garner said. "Of course we wanted to play in the NCAA Tournament, but we want to play. ... We're not done with this season and I think this is a special group and we have something special going on here so the more games we play we just want to enjoy it and not take it for granted."
The NIT means another home game for seniors like Garner and Julian Moore, Penn State will "probably" be without Mike Watkins, Chambers said. While Watkins continues recovering from a knee injury sustained Feb. 21 and hasn't played since, Chambers wouldn't rule Watkins out for the duration of the tournament.
"It's not easy for Mike. He wants to be out there helping his teammates. He wants to be out there on the court," Chambers said.
"He's got to rehab. He's got to get back as quick as he can," he continued. "And who knows? Maybe we make a run and he can come back. We don't know that. But right now he's got to focus on his health and taking care of his academic stuff as well."
Penn State's soft non-conference schedule, coupled with Josh Reaves' absence for part of the season and then Watkins' injury ultimately proved too much for this team to overcome. Add in the up and down year for the Big Ten, all of Penn State Quad-1 wins coming against the same Ohio State team -- which Chambers said shouldn't matter -- and it didn't break their way.
"We competed at NC State and that would've helped for sure. I'm sure the Rider loss didn't help us either," Chambers said. "We had our opportunities and we're going to learn from that."