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NCAA Basketball: 5 teams who benefitted most from season ending early

By Pan Karalis

WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA - FEBRUARY 11: Lamar Stevens #11 of the Penn State Nittany Lions on the court in the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena on February 11, 2020 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA - FEBRUARY 11: Lamar Stevens #11 of the Penn State Nittany Lions on the court in the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena on February 11, 2020 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /
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EAST LANSING, MI – FEBRUARY 04: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans drives to the basket while defended by Jamari Wheeler #5 of the Penn State Nittany Lions (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI – FEBRUARY 04: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans drives to the basket while defended by Jamari Wheeler #5 of the Penn State Nittany Lions (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

Penn State

This is easily the first team that comes to mind when putting together this list. Less than a month ago, the Nittany Lions were top ten in the AP Poll, competing for a Big Ten title and pushing for a two or three seed in the tourney. They were looking like a team that might’ve been a favorite dark horse Final Four candidate for pundits and fans. All of that changed with a February 18th loss at the Bryce Jordan Center to unranked Illinois; Penn State would only win one more time on the year, a one-point victory at home over Rutgers, losing five of their last six.

Pat Chambers’ team hit rock-bottom in the regular-season finale, losing by 11 to an eight-win Northwestern squad that was easily one of the worst in major-conference basketball this year. They didn’t have a chance to face off against an Indiana team that beat them by eight a few weeks before in the conference tournament or to have been easily the most popular choice by bracketeers to be upset in the first round of the tournament.

Chambers would’ve loved to finally bring his team to the tournament after almost a decade of failure and futility, but the NCAA cancellations just did what Cincinnati or UCLA probably would’ve done this weekend anyway and ended their season a bit early.

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