Busting Brackets
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Big Ten Basketball: Week 7 power rankings for the conference

By Blaine Lewallen

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 16: Matt Haarms
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 16: Matt Haarms /
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BLOOMINGTON, IN – FEBRUARY 01: Patrick Chambers the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions gives instructions to his team during the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Assembly Hall on February 1, 2017 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, IN – FEBRUARY 01: Patrick Chambers the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions gives instructions to his team during the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Assembly Hall on February 1, 2017 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Penn State enters this week’s power rankings in the same spot as they were last week. The Nittany Lions have really struggled to find any consistent play this season, and have yet to beat any quality opponents either.

Along with this, the Nittany Lions have some pretty brutal losses. They have no RPI top-100 wins and their NCAA tournament hopes are growing slim. Penn State’s highest quality win came against George Mason on the road. The Nittany Lions will have to have a stellar run in the conference to contend for the NCAA tournament.

A big reason for this is their performance this past week. After defeating Binghamton 80-65 at home on Dec. 19, Pat Chambers and company took a stumble against Rider on Dec. 22. While they lost by just one point (71-70), this is an absolutely brutal loss, especially considering it was at home.

The Nittany Lions continue to have five players averaging double figures in scoring this season led by the sophomore trio of Tony Carr (18.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 4.6 apg), Lamar Stevens (14.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg), and Mike Watkins (12.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg). They are followed by senior guard Shep Garner (11.4 ppg) and junior guard Josh Reaves (11.1 ppg). Despite this impressive balance of scoring, the Nittany Lions will need to show some more toughness if they want to turn their season around.

Schedule for this week:

Coppin State (0-14) at Penn State on Dec. 30

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