City of Basketball Love

Marley Paul (@MarleyPaul22)
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The new era of Penn State basketball will feature a Philadelphia-centric core that will take on the challenge of lifting the program from the bottom floor of the Big Ten and into a respectability basketball squad in a premier Power 5 conference. On Thursday, The Big Ten released the men’s basketball schedule for the 2016-17 season, providing the names and dates for the Nittany Lions’ opponents.

Penn State, featuring six players from the Philadelphia-area and coaching staff with deep roots in the 215 area code, announced last month a non-conference schedule that pegged it for games against Duke, Pitt, George Washington, among others, with the hopes of more rugged competition earlier in the season to ready the team for conference play.

The recently announced Penn State-Michigan State one-off at the Palestra will be played Jan. 7. Tickets for that matchup ranges from $10-30 and will be available to the general public in late September, according to Penn State athletics.

“We cannot wait to take the Big Ten into Philadelphia this season,” head coach Pat Chambers said via press release. “It is always an incredible experience to play in the Palestra and we are honored to do it this time as the home team. We have so many ties to the city as a program and we look forward to connecting with the alumni and fans in the area.

“I want to thank the Big Ten Conference for working with us to make this game happen, and allowing our vision of playing a Big Ten game in the Palestra to come to fruition,” he added.

Conference play begins Dec. 27 and the first slate of games will see Northwestern travel to State College, Pa., for its lone matchup of the season with Penn State. A New Year’s date with Rutgers is the first of four road games in January, the latter three (@ Michigan, Jan. 4; @ Purdue, Jan. 21; @ Wisconsin, Jan. 24) all expected to provide early-season tests for a team with five first-season contributors.

Indiana will travel to central Pa., where Penn State upset the top 25 Hoosiers last season, for a Jan. 18-matchup then play host to the Nittany Lions in Bloomington, Ind., exactly two weeks later on Feb. 1. Nigel Hayes & Co. are paired with Penn State just once, Jan. 24 on the Nittany Lions home court.

The road in February appears to be much more favorable after Indiana, drawing Illinois on Feb. 11 and a Valentines Day date at Nebraska. Minnesota will host the Nittany Lions on either Feb. 25 or 26.

Ohio State and Iowa, the remaining single-game conference opponents, will catch the Nittany Lions at the end of the season. The Buckeyes take a trip to Happy Valley on Feb. 28 and the Hawkeyes welcome the Nittany Lions for their regular-season finale on March 5.

The Big Ten Tournament will take place in the nation’s capital for the first time, running from March 8-12. The tournament will move to Washington D.C. after years of alternating between Chicago and Indianapolis since its inception in 1998. The Nittany Lions have never won the postseason tournament, with their lone appearance in the championship game coming in 2011.

Penn State opens its season on Nov. 11 vs. Albany (switched from the previously scheduled matchup with Marist). The Big Ten Network announced it will broadcast the following Nittany Lions non-conference games: Duquesne, Nov. 13; Colgate, Nov. 23; George Mason, Dec. 7.

http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-baskbl/sched/psu-m-baskbl-sched.html

Tue., Dec. 27: vs. Northwestern (20-12, 8-10)

Sun., Jan. 1: @ Rutgers (7-25, 1-17)
Wed., Jan. 4: @ Michigan (23-13, 10-8)
Sat., Jan. 7: vs. Michigan State (@ Palestra) (29-6, 13-5)
Sat., Jan. 14: vs. Minnesota (8-23, 2-16)
Wed., Jan. 18: vs. Indiana (27-8, 15-3)
Sat., Jan. 21: @ Purdue (26-9, 12-6)
Tues., Jan. 24: @ Wisconsin (22-13, 12-6)
Sat., Jan. 28: vs. Illinois (15-19, 5-13)

Wed., Feb. 1: @ Indiana
Sat., Feb. 4: vs. Rutgers
Tue., Feb. 7: vs. Maryland (27-9, 12-6)
Sat., Feb. 11: @ Illinois
Tue., Feb. 14: @ Nebraska (16-18, 6-12)
Tue., Feb. 21: vs. Purdue
Sat., Feb. 25 or 26: @ Minnesota
Tue., Feb. 28: vs. Ohio State (21-14, 11-7)

Sun., March 5: @ Iowa (22-11, 12-6)