Bracketology: Where did Penn State Basketball Land?

PSU’s overall record of 10-2 ties the team’s best start through 12 games since the 2019-20 season. Before losing to Clemson in the Sunshine Slam Championship, Penn State was off to its best start in 25 years with a 6-0 record.

Penn State’s best win came against Purdue on Dec. 5, when it took down the No. 8 Boilermakers in a dominant 81-70 win. This was PSU’s first win against an AP top-10 opponent since 2019. That Purdue win is projected to be a Quad 2 victory, giving Penn State a 1-1 record in Quad 2 play and a 0-1 record in Quad 1 play (Clemson loss).

The Nittany Lions rank within the top 10 nationally in major statistical categories such as points per game (88.4), assists per game (19.0), scoring margin (21.3) and turnovers forced per game (17.25). That last of those rankings has arguably fueled Penn State’s hot start, as teams struggle to get into an offensive flow against Mike Rhoades’ squad.

PSU is holding opponents to 98.5 points per 40 minutes (47th on KenPom) and turning them over one out of every five possessions (10th in the country).

Lunardi still predicts the SEC will earn a committee-leading 13 bids come Selection Sunday. The Big Ten, meanwhile, is projected to get 10 bids in March. Here are Lunardi’s picks for the Big Ten:

• 3rd seed Oregon
• 4th seed UCLA
• 5th seed Michigan State
• 5th seed Purdue
• 6th seed Illinois
• 7th seed Michigan
• 7th seed Maryland
• 8th seed Wisconsin
• 10th seed Penn State
• 11th seed Ohio State

Lunardi’s bracket will be updated every Tuesday before moving to twice weekly in January.