Big Ten Basketball: Week 5 conference power rankings

The Nittany Lions are off to a solid start this season. They have lost just three games, one of which easily could have gone their way at home against Wisconsin. PSU still has some work to do to prove they belong towards the top of the conference, though.

The reason for this is that the Nittany Lions have no wins in the RPI top-100 (per CBS Sports).  Because of this stat, the Nittany Lions could even be considered worse than the No. 7 rank in the conference. But, the sophomore trio that Pat Chambers has gives them some potential to make some noise this year in the conference.

Last week, Penn State won their lone game, defeating George Washington handily by a score of 74-54 at home.

The sophomore trio previously mentioned is led by Tony Carr, who averages 20.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game. Lamar Stevens (13.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and Mike Watkins (12.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg) round out the trio. Senior Shep Garner (10.7 ppg) and junior Josh Reaves (10.6 ppg) round out the balanced scoring effort for the Nittany Lions.

Schedule for this week:

• Penn State at George Mason (5-6) on Dec. 17