Penn State men’s basketball cracks the top 10 in the AP Top 25

[SBR Drew]

Penn State men’s basketball has climbed higher in the poll after another two wins in the past week, and has tied the highest ranking the program has ever earned.

The Nittany Lions are No. 9 in the most recent poll, released Monday, with 1,024 voting points, the highest they’ve been ranked this season. They were No. 13 in the last poll and have now moved up four weeks in a row. They received 787 voting points last week.
This is the third time in school history the team has been ranked in the top 10. The other two times were in mid-February of the 1995-1996 season and in the final AP Poll of the 1953-1954 season. They were also ranked No. 9 on those occasions.

[SBR Drew]

The two wins have helped keep Penn State near the top of the Big Ten standings. The Nittany Lions are a game back from first place in the conference, with only Maryland ahead of them. If the two teams tie in the standings, Penn State will win conference title via a head-to-head win over the Terps in December.

The Nittany Lions are among four Big Ten teams that are ranked in Monday’s poll, alongside Maryland (No. 7), Iowa (No. 20), and Ohio State (No. 25). The conference also has four teams receiving voting points outside the top 25. Michigan State has the second-most points among the group with 87 while While Michigan has the third-most points with 83 and Illinois has the ninth-most with 12. Rutgers also received six voting points.
The Nittany Lions will be back in action Tuesday in an important home matchup. They’ll take on Illinois in the first of two games this week. The Fighting Illini are the No. 32 team in the country, according to Ken Pomeroy’s KenPom rankings.