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The Penn State basketball team is currently fighting for a spot in the Big Ten Tournament. At 5-13 in league play, they find themselves one game out of the race for the final bid.
Head coach Mike Rhoades is hoping to finish the year strong and potentially slip into the postseason. With that being said, he doesn’t believe there should any scenario in which the Nittany Lions are omitted.
Rhoades was heard blasting the league for its new tournament format following an expansion to 18 teams. Previously, all 14 conference members were invited to participate in the bracket. Now, the last three squads will be left out.
The top 15 teams will have the opportunity to win a Big Ten title and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Penn State will likely be watching from home.
The Nittany Lions have two regular season games remaining, both against ranked foes. Not only do they need to pick up some wins, but they might need some help with a quartet of conference rivals sitting at 6-11 in league play.
Penn State is currently ranked 17th in the 18-team standings. Still, Mike Rhoades thinks his team should receive a Big Ten Tournament bid. He went on a fiery postgame rant after losing to Indiana this week.
Mike Rhoades’ full comment on the new Big Ten basketball tournament format following Penn State’s loss at Indiana. #iubb #BigTen pic.twitter.com/Ah9ToUpSJq
— Owen Graham (@owengraham22) February 27, 2025
Expansion has caused change in college basketball. Different leagues have taken different approaches to certain issues.
The Big Ten, much like the ACC, came up with a 15-team conference tournament format before season’s start. Each will leave three teams out of the field. The SEC and Big XII, meanwhile, include all 16 of their members in the bracket.
Mike Rhoades isn’t happy with how his situation was handled. He prefers having every team in the competition. Not doing so hurts the student athletes most of all, he says.
Unfortunately, his complaints won’t change anything this March. If he wants to join this year’s field, he’ll likely need a pair of upsets in the final week of the season.