Charlie came to us with three quick questions and with Big Ten expansion talk a hot topic this football off-season that was naturally a good starting point. I will take the liberty of starting things off with my thoughts on the subject and in time we will see if Devon or Charlie follow up with their take.

Feel free to agree or disagree with anything I say down below with a comment.

Who will join the Big Ten?

1) Expansion talk.  Instead of dividing up the pie 11 ways, expansion would increase that to 12 or more. Would it even be in the Big Ten’s best interest to even consider expansion if the incoming team(s) won’t increase current members’ financial share?

That is a good point which has not fairly been evaluated in many of the Big Ten expansion scenarios I have seen or written. I think in the grand scheme of things an expansion to 12 or 14 teams would benefit the conference in the long run enough to warrant the move. With expansion will come a Big Ten championship game which will bring in advertising and television money not available before. Growing the Big Ten into new territory will bring new TV deals to carry the Big Ten Network, and with that will come additional advertising revenue.

Imagine if expansion added Syracuse to the Big Ten. Sure, on the football field that would be small potatoes, but on the basketball court that would elevate Big Ten basketball to a new level. You can defend Big Ten basketball all you want, and there is some great history there, but to take a powerhouse basketball program from the top basketball conference would be monumental. That would be huge for Big Ten basketball on television.

2) Most likely candidate to be Big Ten’s eventual 12th member. Team you would most like to see in the Big Ten regardless of geographical and academic limitations.

If the Big Ten is going to expand to just 12 teams, throwing out the dream scenario of 14, then I would venture to say the most likely candidate is unfortunately Rutgers. The only benefit of Rutgers is access to the New York City market but the ONLY piece of evidence backing that is that ONE prime time game in which Rutgers upset Louisville. It was one of the best nights of college football I ever watched on TV, that was not a Penn State game, and the memories and images of that night should rightfully be remembered by Rutgers fans. But it was one stinking night.

The Big Ten would be a fool not to expand into the New York market, but it would just seem as though the Big Ten is using Rutgers for that possibility.

Unless they expand to 14 teams.

In my dream Big Ten expansion scenario the conference would invite Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Rutgers. This would push the conference to 14 teams and the division layout would somewhat reach the goal set out by Joe Paterno many moons ago with an all-eastern football conference. Yes, Maryland and Boston College (and Temple) would still be out of the mix, but combined with Ohio State and possibly Michigan, would that not be one of the coolest divisions in college football to watch?

If geographical and academic limitations were set aside, I would hope to see Virginia. As if you need an excuse to visit the campus, right?

3) Rumor has it that a current scholarship player on the basketball team will be leaving. Coach DeChellis hitting the recruiting trail only validates the rumor. Your call on the player is leaving the team?

Penn State has a basketball team?

I find it somewhat humorous that DeChillis still has a job as the Penn State head coach. That NIT championship was fun and all, but when you have a career winning percentage of .436 it seems pretty clear to me that you are not the right man for the job. For Penn State to have built the Bryce Jordan Center and have a lackluster basketball program is embarrassing. I know the BJC packs crowds for concerts ad other events, but shouldn’t Tim Curley realize at some point that a quality basketball program would be pretty sweet too.

Imagine a BJC crowd packed to the roof with fans eager to see a decent basketball team welcome a quality opponent like Villanova, UConn, Syracuse, Maryland etc.

Sorry. I know I don’t follow the basketball program as closely as some of you, but perhaps the striving for mediocrity is why.

Related Posts:

1. Blue White Round Table – Kevin’s Take on Syracuse
2. Blue White Round Table offers cupcakes
3. Blue White Round Table – Bill Cosby Edition

• While Penn State football won’t start up for reals for another five and half months, there’s plenty to look forward to. For those among us who are counting down the days until the Blue/White Game, well, good news–it’ll be on ESPN2, so you don’t have to come all the way out to Central PA and then leave midway through the second quarter once guys like Matt McGloin start getting snaps. Even so, you know you will, because, unless you live prohibitively far away (sorry, Charlie), the tailgate scene is beyond awesome. Oh, and with the QB position among many up for grabs, this B/W game actually will be wrought with tension.

• The Athletic Department finally got around to updating the roster, and, as usual, Linebacker-U does some phenomenal work breaking down what exactly all this means.  A few quick notes–Khairi Fortt might just be the next Navorro Bowman (or Lavar Arrington, for that matter), and he’ll be wearing the #11 jersey to boot.  Paul Jones will don Andrew Quarless’s old #10, and Nick Sukay really likes switching his number around–he’s switched from #10 to #9 to #18, and is now wearing #1.

• The Big Ten expansion rumors just keep heating up.  The Chicago Tribune, which has been on top of the topic since the get-go argued that Rutgers was the best fit, even though as a New Yorker myself, I can attest to the fact that literally nobody cares about Rutgers football.  Then somebody leaked that Notre Dame was in play.  But not too fast, Bill Stewart, who, presumably, knows something about something, talked openly about how the Big East could dissolve as a football conference when (not if) the Big Ten, ACC, and SEC start poaching teams. So maybe we’ll get an eastern rival after all.

• Next year’s White Out t-shirt is out, and, unfortunately for Fox News, it doesn’t resemble the prophet Allah.  Design B won the vote, and, unsurprisingly, it’s completely bland and boring. I’ll be doing what I did last year–not buying it, and wearing a plain white t-shirt. Or maybe not going, since our night game is going to be, probably, against Michigan or Northwestern. If it’s going to be such a meaningless game, we shouldn’t sully the reputation of the White Iut by wasting it on such a hapless opponent.
• Tickets for Penn State’s “away game” against Indiana at Fedex Field go on sale on Monday, so if you’re an alum or fan from around D.C., check how many NLC points you’ve got. State College is 203 miles from Landover, Maryland, while Bloomington is 650 miles away.  It’s going to be a very strange scene when Penn State fans outnumber the Hoosier faithful by a large margin at what’s billed as an away game.
• If a major early-season game against the defending national champions didn’t get you excited enough, well, word is that next year’s week two matchup for the Nits in Tuscaloosa will be a night game, to be broadcast on ESPN.  Considering both teams are locks to start next season ranked in the top 15, at least, it’ll either be an incredible chance for the young Lions to make a huge statement, or, perhaps more likely, another primetime beatdown of a Big Ten team (see: USC-Ohio State, 2008).  Here’s to hoping we return the favor in 2011, and treat the Crimson Tide to the best White Out yet.

Related Posts:

1. I swear it never happened
2. Nittany White Out Round Table: Part I

And just as in Futurama, this is of course followed by a horrible, terrible announcement.  Namely, that Ed DeChellis has, avoided the chopping block.  Kudos to David Jones on the scoop:

“Yes, Ed will continue to be our head coach,” Curley wrote. “I like the way he runs our program, his assistant coaches and players in the program.”

What would it take for Ed to be fired?

What makes it even worse, Tim, is how you’ve completely sold out.  You’re adding PSLs to Beaver Stadium, and moving the student section out of the good seats, with the upshot that it’s going to be damn near impossible for any young alumni to attend a game. You’ve plastered advertisements and commercials all over both the Beav and the BJC, to the point where they might as well be called “Thanks Corporate Sponsors Stadium.” Hell, just look at our football schedule and our “7.5 home games a year,” and you realize how Tim Curley’s money-at-all-costs attitude is hurting the fanbase.  Even though you’ve got a living legend at head football coach who you’re paying peanuts to compared to his contemporaries, and a rabid and devoted fanbase that keeps handing you money, you still can’t bite the bullet and fire a man who deserves nothing more than to be kicked out onto the curb.

These are the facts. Ed’s contract runs through the end of the 2014 season, and it pays him about $600,000 a year. You can do the math, that means that buying him out would cost about $1.8 million.  Or, how much Tubby Smith makes every year at Minnesota, according to StL Today. It’s not even close to how much Indiana pays Tom Crean, or how much Ohio State pays Thad Matta on a yearly basis. In two years, Ed would make less than those three make in one, plus Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, Michigan’s John Beilein, Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan, Iowa’s Todd Lickliter, and Northwestern’s Bill Carmody. Not only is Ed DeChellis the lowest paid head coach in the Big Ten by at least $200,000, but his salary doesn’t even compare to most of the league’s coaches.

That’s the real reason Penn State’s not going to fire the utter failure that is Ed DeChellis. Take that, and the fact that last year, Penn State basketball made almost $8 million off of men’s basketball, after spending just $4.4 million, and once you realize that all Tim Curley cares about is making money and avoiding scandals, well, his decision is obvious. These numbers come straight from the Equity in Athletics Institution, and are on a .edu site, so I’m pretty sure they’re legit.

Ed didn't choose to be an awful coach. You chose to retain him. Who's the real villain?

So I beg of you Tim, answer me this: Why sacrifice men’s basketball, why keep a man who clearly is outmatched, whose players gave up on him, and who’s “accomplished” a 34-93 record in seven years at the helm? I’m not getting into the reasons why Ed should go, because we’ve done that time and time again here.  But we haven’t pointed out Tim Curley’s hypocrisy, his outright lies to a fanbase that’s out for blood.

“I believe we are better than our record shows. Ed and I share the same vision for the program. I have complete confidence in Ed and his staff. No one will work harder or bring greater passion to making the necessary progress.”

As Joe Wilson once said, “You lie.” Unless Ed’s vision is spending as little as possible, and the only goal for this team is to avoid some major brouhaha, Ed’s not the man to run it. You’re right, this team did have too much talent to be 3-16. You know the reason why they were? Horrendous coaching. Anybody’s whose watched this team play, game-in and game-out like I have, and like the true Penn State basketball fans have know that. This isn’t a matter of Penn State getting outclassed, not when they’ve blown late leads to teams like Michigan State and Wisconsin, when they’ve hung right with Ohio State, Purdue, and Illinois. No, this is a good team that got dragged down by a coach who didn’t have them prepared, who didn’t have a gamplan, and who was playing checkers while Izzo, Painter, Matta, and Ryan were playing chess.

Don’t sugarcoat this, Tim. If you’d told David Jones “Ed is staying, he earns too much to fire,” you might be betraying all of Nittany Nation, but at least you wouldn’t be a bold-faced liar. This isn’t about vision, or about merit. It’s about two million dollars that you don’t want to pay.  I wonder how just about every other major-conference program in the country manages to do it.

Oh, that’s right, they probably don’t have somebody’s who’s completely incompetent running their athletics department.

If this all comes down to money, I urge you all to make a plea. All of you who really care about Penn State basketball, take the lead of my friend Charlie here. He pledged to double his NLC donation if it would go towards paying for a new coach. But take that one step further. Call up Tim Curley and tell him not only will you double your donation if it means getting a real basketball program, but that as long as Ed DeChellis is still at the helm, you’re not giving Tim Curley and his department a penny.

If it’s going to be about money, at least we can have our say one way or another.

Related Posts:

1. Acknowledged by Sports Illustrated
2. Lady Lions Deserve Support. Men, not so much.
3. Penn State-Indiana will be relocated to FedEx Field in 2010

2 interceptions, 2 fumbles, and all it took was 1:03 for Cincinnati to carve up the Panther’s defense for the game winning touchdown. Fired from Chicago and Miami, you can catch the Wannastache circus in Pittsburgh.

Related Posts:

1. Stunned and Dazed in Ann Arbor
2. Stunned and Dazed in Rock-tober
3. Stunned and Dazed in South Florida

What would it take for DeChellis to be let go? Honestly. put out a figure and we’ll pass around a hat.

Related Posts:

1. Ed DeChellis Q&A
2. Ed DeChellis Signs Contract Extension
3. How do you follow Penn State football?

Penn State baseball action is well underway and the team just completed a series in College Station against Big 12 baseball power Texas A&M.

Here’s a quick run through the games already completed by the Penn State baseball team.

2/26 W PSU 5 vs Cincinnati 4

In the first game of the Big Ten/Big East Challenge, Penn State found themselves trailing Cincinnati and down to their last out in the bottom of the 9th. 3 consecutive hits changed what seemed like an inevitable defeat into a thrilling extra innings victory for the Lions. Back to back singles from Penn State junior Michael Glantz and senior Louie Picconi set up late game heroics for freshman Steven Snyder. Snyder sent the first pitch down the right field line into the corner tying the score at 4. Joey DeBernardis added a 12th-inning walk off single to complete the rally and the 5-4 win.

2/27 W PSU 3 Seton Hall 2

For the second consecutive time, Penn State relied on extra innings heroics after finding themselves down late in the game.

Penn State headed into the bottom of the 8th trailing Seton Hall 2-1 until junior Heath Johnson scored the tying run with a sacrifice fly.

Both teams struggled to cross the plate again until Penn State junior Mario Eramo scored a walk off single in extra innings.

2/28 L PSU 8 Notre Dame 9

To cap off one of the wildest Big Ten/Big East challenges, Penn State nearly left Florida with 3 extra inning victories. Down 1 in the 9th inning, Ben Heath scored a home run, his third of the weekend second of the game,for the tie. But in the bottom of the 9th, Penn State found itself with Irish runners on second and third with just one out. Spectacularly, Penn State freshman Steven Hill proceeded to strike out Brayden Ashburn and David Casey to force extra innings.

However, a fly ball by Notre Dame’s Adam Norton got caught by the wind and dropped by Heath Johnson allowing David Mills (ND) to score the winning run from second base in the 10th.

Heath finished 3 for 6, 3 RBIs and 4 runs scored. This loss sends Penn State home from the Big Ten/Big East challenge with a 2-1 record. All 3 games ended in extra innings for a total of 35 innings.

3/05 W PSU 12 McNeese St 6

Penn State’s (3-1) starting pitcher Ryan Ignas put together a strong 7 inning performance against McNeese St (4-5) in the YMBL Cardinal Classic. Ignas allowed just 2 earned runs on 5 total hits while striking out 6. The Lions had no trouble with offense in a 19 hit and 12 run outburst. Ben Heath scored his fourth home run of the season and led the team with a career-high four RBI.

Sean Deagan and Jordan Seranka added 3 hits and 2 RBIs

each. Sophomore Joey DeBernardis recorded 3 hits as well but no runs. The win gives Ignas a 1-0 record on the season.

3/06 W PSU 10 Dallas Baptist 4

The first of a split doubleheader on the day, Penn State’s bats exploded for 7 runs in the 2nd inning against perennial NCAA Tournament participant Dallas Baptist (7-2). This is a statement win for the Nittany Lions. The Patriots entered the season ranked in Collegiate Baseball’s Fabulous 40 national preseason poll.

Penn State freshman pitchers Neal Herring (starter) and Steven Hill were sensational both allowing just 1 earned run in 6 innings each. A 3 for 5 performance by Sophomore Joey DeBernardis makes this his second consecutive 3 hit game. Both 3B Jordan Steranka and junior Mario Eramo scored home runs, Eramo’s first as a Nittany Lion.

3/06 L PSU 0 Lamar 4

In the second game of Penn State’s double header on the day, Lamar’s (8-1) pitcher Matison Smith threw a complete game shutout against the Nittany Lions (4-2) in a 4-0 victory. Smith held Penn State to a total of just 4 hits and no runs. His Penn State counterpart, Steven Hill, making his first career start in his home state of Texas struggled early, but eventually allowed 3 runs on 8 hits.

The Cardinals took advantage of errors by midfielders Louie Picconi and Luis Montesinos in the 1st. The Nittany Lions struggled to cross the place as they consistently put the ball in play but failed to reach third base all game. 3 different Lions and 8 different Cardinals recorded hits and this loss evens out Steven Hill’s record to 1-1 on the season.

3/07 L PSU 3 Lamar 8

In the final game of the YMBL Cardinal Classic, Penn State (4-3) just couldn’t match Lamar’s (9-2) 6 run outburst in the 5th. Cardinal pitcher Eric Harrington was phenomenal allowing just 2 Penn State runs on 4 hits through 5.2 innings. His Penn State counterpart struggled in the 5th allowing 4 earned runs on 5 hits.

A 2 for 4 performance extended Penn State’s Heath Johnson’s hitting streak to seven games. 6 different Lions and Aggies recorded hits in the game.

3/09 L PSU 3 Texas A&M 17

Penn State’s (4-4) starting pitcher John Walter was able to keep the Aggies (10-2) in check for 3 innings. Great work by the freshman starter before a pair of bunt singles for Texas A&M sparked their offense in the fourth. The four runs scored by the Aggies were just the beginning. Texas A&M piled on 13 more runs in the 6th (4), 7th (6) and 8th (3) on their way to the eventual 17-3 blowout of Penn State.

The loss to the Aggies dropped starting pitcher John Walter’s record to 0-2 on the season.

Sean Deegan, Ben Heath, Joey DeBernardis, Mario Eramo, Luis Montesino, and Elliot Searer all recorded hits for the Nittany Lions, but only DeBernardis, Eramo and Montesinos were able to score runs in the final inning. 10 different Aggies recorded hits and 9 scored runs.

3/10 PSU Texas A&M

The Lions (4-5) could never finish out as the Aggies scored all 7 of their runs with 2 outs in a shutout victory. Redshirt senior Mike Wanamaker allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits and struck out 4 during 4 innings in his much anticipated start since 2008. Steve Snyder was the only Lion to record multiple hits going 2 of 3. Penn State moves on to a 3-game series against last year’s NCAA regional participant Texas State.

Related Posts:

1. College Gameday Coming To State College
2. Penn State Handles Penn to Open Season
3. Penn State Countdown: 89

Scheduled for December 30th, the blockbuster matchup between unranked Big East #3rd and the Big 12 #6th place teams will most likely be follow the equally prestigious Humanitarian Bowl. To clarify the Pinstripe Bowl will have the 3rd selection of teams in the Big East and 6th selection of teams in the Big 12 once BCS participants have been decided.

When a brand new bowl, yet to be played and still pending certification by the NCAA (until next month) manages to work its way into the Big East’s bowl lineup to snatch away the #3rd selection of teams (#4th if they get 2 BCS participants, but who are we really kidding here), it’s got to be disturbing for a conference who is clenching onto their automatic BCS spot for dear life. By comparison, the amount the Pinstripe bowl offered financially to obtain the 3rd pick from the Big East was only good enough to secure the #6th place team (#7 most years if the Big 12 sends 2 BCS teams) from the Big 12. Talk about your conference hierarchy.

Even for fans of most Big East teams, it has to be disheartening to think the reward for your team placing 3rd in the conference is a trip to the Bronx, New York in the dead of winter. It’s even worse when you consider that South Florida could very well end up being that team in most years. Fans willing to leave sunny South Florida for the winter coats and scarves of New York City deserves some sort of award.

*With 2 divisions, it is much tougher to project the #6 selection after BCS participants especially when more than 1 team have equal win-loss records. Both possible candidates for the Pinstripe Bowl are thus listed.

Aside from the actual football game that will take place in the Pinstripe Bowl, little else was planned with football in mind. The bowl game, title included, was manufactured with a clear intention of showcasing Steinbrenner’s brand new $1.5 billion baseball palace and the Yankees (MLB) brand. Even its sponsor, for the first four years at least, is geared towards it’s long running baseball fan base. New Era Cap Co Inc, is the primary supplier of major league baseball caps and this sponsorship is its first major foray outside of it’s baseball heritage.

And if further proof that football was indeed the last priority of this bowl game is needed, a standard college football field might not even fit inside Steinbrenner’s new palace.

The official dimensions of Yankee Stadium should offer just enough room for a 120-yard/360-foot football field, end-to-end — it’s over 400 feet from home plate to dead-away centerfield. The question if you’re trying to put one end zone at the backstop and the other in the outfield is width at the corners: At Yankee Stadium, the right-field (314 feet) and left-field poles (318 feet) are both well short of the necessary distance; the end zone baseline wouldn’t stretch from pole to pole, but the outfield wall would still threaten to cut off the corners as it curved back towards the plate on either end. The other end zone is a bigger problem when you consider that you need 60 yards from pylon to pylon in the back corners of the end zone, and more for sideline space. Even conservatively speaking, if you lay the field with the end zones at the backstop and the outfield wall, is it 75 yards between dugouts? As the drawing shows, it’s likely both end zones are going to be cut off.

This would probably force the Pinstripe bowl to take the Emerald Bowl route in AT&T park (another MLB ballpark) route and force both teams to share one sideline. What better way to showcase both conferences than to have teams from Texas, Kansas and Missouri huddled around heating lamps shoulder to shoulder with their Big East counterparts.

Then you have to wonder if fans of Texas A&M, Missouri, Baylor, Kansas, Texas Tech, Colorado and Oklahoma would be eagerly awaiting to snatch up tickets to a bowl game in the Bronx in late December. Sounds about as inviting as the “Little Caesars Papajohns Pizza Factory Bowl” in Detroit for people who actually get to see the sun for half the year. But really, who wouldn’t want to fly halfway across the country to the frozen tundra of the Northeast to watch two unranked teams from the Big East and Big 12? Though it would be fun watching Big 12 teams attempt their high flying offenses in weather most of us are accustomed to.

Had the Pinstripe Bowl existed this season, we would have been treated to the blockbuster matchup between perennial title contenders Rutgers and Texas A&M. Last year, 68 bowl eligible teams were required for the 34 bowls currently certified by the NCAA. There were 71 bowl eligible teams in 2009, 70 if you exclude Notre Dame whose players voted themselves out of attending a bowl.

The Pinstripe bowl will make it 35 requiring 70 bowl eligible teams. Basically every team to reach .500 will receive a chance to participate in the post season.

It might be time for the Steinbrenners to rethink their PR strategy for Yankee Stadium. I understand you just spent $1.5 billion and want to show it off, but there’s got to be a better strategy than shoving a square peg into a round hole. They might even have a better shot in successfully showcasing their brand new venue by simply sticking to hosting concerts in the offseason. Think Jay Z rocking out in the Bronx hours before New York explodes with a Times Square New Years Eve celebration. Now that is entertainment.

Related Posts:

1. Explaining the BCS or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Orange Bowl
2. Time to ditch the Capital One for the Cotton Bowl
3. Alamo Bowl’s futile search for greener pastures

But the looks of shock and disbelief on the players faces following the game said it all. A third consecutive ESCHL title was merely a stepping stone, not the final goal for seniors Steve Thurston, John Conte, Matt Kirstein and Ryan Paradis. 90 seconds were all that stood between the Icers and a spot in the semifinals.

Central Oklahoma wasn’t supposed to put up a spirited fight. Their energy and will should have been drained in the double overtime thriller against hated rivals #7 Oklahoma just a day earlier in the first round. It was the first time they had beaten the Sooners this season. But things don’t always go according to plan.

The Icers took the lead early in the game. A Taylor Cera (Jr) goal just 2 minutes and 12 seconds into the game gave the Icers a 1-0 lead. It was a lead they would not relinquish for more than 56 minutes of the game before the Broncos took advantage of a faceoff play in the Icers zone setting up the late tying goal. Central Oklahoma’s Shawn Steggles won the draw sending the puck to defenseman Nick Novak who fired it into the Icer’s net with just 1:29 left in regulation eventually forcing overtime.

Overtime went by in a flash. Broncos’ Jonathan Cannizzo blocked an Icer’s shot inside Central Oklahoma’s zone and flew down the ice sending a shot past Ted Hume. 1:39 seconds into overtime, it was all over for the Icers.

The stats were fairly even throughout the game. Penn State Icers outshot the Broncos 40 – 32 and both teams were unable to capitalize on their power plays; 7 for the Icers, 6 for the Broncos.

Prior to the game, Icers defenseman John Conte said

“It’s what we’ve worked for, and to not win a national championship is a disappointment. I think everybody will be on the same page if you’re hurt or a little tired — they’ll do what they can to make a play.”

The Icers made their only goal clear all year, ACHA championship or bust. And their disappointment will linger long after the eventual 2010 ACHA champions are crowned, but let’s remember that this team amassed a phenomenal 32-4-2 record and a third consecutive ESCHL title, no easy feats.

Related Posts:

1. Icers march on to ACHA National Tournament
2. Icers Hat trick! 3rd consecutive ESCHL championship
3. Penn State Countdown: 82

Commence rant.

What’s there left to say. This wasn’t exactly the season many of us expected especially many of those students who turned Madison Square Garden into Beaver Stadium East last year. Talor Battle was returning and so were our hopes for a respectable basketball program. But it was not meant to be. Chances for this fan base to bounce to Zombie Nation and roar with Rock and Roll have been scarce. And as this team continued to add to the losses column, fan displeasure multiplied.

Don’t get me wrong, I did not expect this team to exceed the accomplishments by last year’s miracle squad especially with the losses in senior ship this year. But nobody could have predicted the face plant of a season we ended up with. And there is simply no excuse for a (until recently) winless conference record. A lot of our problems lie in personnel and especially coaching. Ed DeChellis’ inability to maintain and change momentum is well documented. So is his mismanagement of time outs.

But as fans we were simply naive. Based on the track records of NIT champions in the last decade, there is simply no evidence that would lead Lion fans to expect improvement based solely on our participation and success in the NIT last year.

Of the last 10 NIT champions spanning the past decade, only 5 have gone on to reach the Big Dance the following season. 50% success rate. Not exactly a resounding endorsement for the champion of the NIT. Of those 5 that did improve on their post season fates from the previous year, 3 suffered an early 1st round exit, 1 made it to the 2nd round, and West Virginia made a run to the 2008 Sweet Sixteen. Even by punching a ticket to the NCAA tournament their following season, recent NIT champs haven’t exactly been making an impact in the Big Dance.

Then we have 4 squads that actually regressed following an NIT championship, including ours this season. None more so than the 2004 St. John’s team that went from a 17-13 NIT championship season in 2003 to a 6-21 record the following year. Fortunately Penn State have not fallen that hard, that fast. But at 11-17 (3-13), we come pretty close.

In fact, since the NIT’s inaugural tournament in 1938, just 14 NIT Final Four finalists have gone on to make a Final Four run in the NCAA tournament the following year. The last being Syracuse (NIT 4th place finish in 2002, NCAA champions in 2003). But prior to the Orange, the last NIT participant to make a Final Four impact was in 1985 when Louisville also parlayed a 4th place NIT finish to a NCAA championship the following year. That’s 1 NCAA Final Four team to come out of 96 NIT Final Four finalists in 24 years. 1% success rate.

The history simply wasn’t there. No concrete proof of any substantial improvement simply through success in the NIT. Just because we beat Notre Dame, Florida and Baylor on our way to a nifty NIT trophy last year did not entitle us to some boost in wins or talent this season.

Unfortunately Ed DeChellis, the amazing motivational speaker well all know he is, clearly was unable to convey such a warning to the team. It was a trap our players and its fans fell into and was unable to recover from until it was too late. The NIT was never and is still not a spring board to bigger and better things, it is simply just another tournament rewarding teams with decent records squeezed out by the NCAA tournament in their effort to incorporate more of the little guys. An end game.

If Ed DeChellis’ greatest accomplishments is leading this program to numerous NIT appearances, that is disheartening. Recent history has made it evident that the NIT is not a guarantee or basis for any future improvement, and if the ultimate goal of the NCAA is one we will not reach with DeChellis, isn’t it time to look elsewhere?

End of rant.

Related Posts:

1. PENN STATE 2009 CHAMPIONS!!!
2. This is not a game recap
3. Better Know an Opponent: Notre Dame

The Icers take on SUNY-Canton this Satuday, March 6th at 1pm CST for a spot in the quarterfinals. Should the Icers take care of business they will face off against the winner of Oklahoma/Central Oklahoma on Sunday in the quarterfinals.

Related Posts:

1. Central Oklahoma shocks #2 Icers in overtime ACHA stunner
2. Icers Hat trick! 3rd consecutive ESCHL championship
3. Dynasty Defined! Congratulations to the 3 time women’s volleyball national champions