Last year, Penn State’s pathetic non-conference schedule served to be it’s demise, as the Nittany Lion’s RPI was dragged down by their opponents, and ultimately missed the NCAA tournament as a result.  And while winning the NIT was a hell of a consolation prize, it’s very refreshing to see that the Athletic Department has learned from its mistakes.  Gone are the Armys and NJITs of the college basketball landscape, replaced with the capable mid-major teams like Gardner Webb and Robert Morris.  As GoPSUSports released today, if Penn State doesn’t reach the NCAA tournament next year, you certainly can’t blame the non-conference schedule.  We’ve included the final 2009 RPIs for these teams, and the difference from last year is stark.

Hopefully, Penn State will be playing for a greater title than the NIT Championship in 2010.

Nov. 6
Slippery Rock (exhibition game)
Nov. 13
University of Pennsylvania (252)
Nov. 16
Robert Morris (108)
Nov. 19-22
Charleston Classic: UMiami (59), South Carolina (68), South Florida (190), Davidson (64), Tulane (188), LaSalle (113), UNC Wilmington (273)
Nov. 25
Sacred Heart (182)
Nov. 30
Big Ten/ACC Challenge: at Virginia (117)
Dec. 5
at Temple (33)
Dec. 8
Maryland-Baltimore County (164)
Dec. 12
Virginia Tech (65)
Dec. 19
Gardner Webb (219)
Dec. 21
American (73)

So there are a few schools who won’t necessarily help, like Penn or UMBC, but it’s far better, as a whole, than what we had last year.  There will be chances to win against a half dozen or more teams in the top 100, and there are plenty of teams that could easily reach the RPI top 50.  At the very least, it doesn’t include teams that will drag down the RPI.  Sure, there might not be the big flashy names, but these are all winnable games.  With a young team that has lost two-thirds of it’s “Big Three” this schedule lends the Nittany Lions with their best chance to reach the NCAA Tournament, and for that , the scheduling department deserves kudos.  But this still doesn’t make up for last year.  This year, there are 2, or potentially 3 teams we could play with an RPI over 200.  Last year, there were 7.

Think of it this way: last year, due to losses to Temple and URI, Penn State’s best non-conference win was Mt. Saint Mary’s.  This year, if Penn State were to lose it’s top 2 non-conference games, they could still boast wins over RPI boosters like Miami, American, and Davidson.  That’s not bad at all