It’s been another week of climbing for Penn State men’s basketball, as the Nittany Lions garnered some attention from ESPN, Andy Katz, and the USA Today coaches poll Monday.

Following their win over Georgetown and improvement to 3-0, the Nittany Lions picked up a No. 21 nod in ESPN’s college basketball power index. The power index measures the overall strength of a team, and tries to best predict success going forward. This ranking places Penn State as the third-best team in the Big Ten, behind only Michigan State and Purdue.

Andy Katz, an NCAA correspondent and BTN analyst, periodically puts out his Power 36 rankings, and Penn State snagged the No. 20 spot in the second edition of the year. This ranking also places the Nittany Lions at number three in the Big Ten, but behind Michigan State and Ohio State instead.

Although they were left out of the AP Top 25 again, the Nittany Lions did actually receive nine votes from the USA TODAY coaches poll. This is the earliest in the season the Nittany Lions have ever received votes in either this poll or the AP Top 25.

Penn State will now turn its focus to its game against Bucknell at the Bryce Jordan Center Tuesday night. Tip off is set for 6:30 p.m.

About the Author

Ryan Parsons

Ryan is a redshirt senior majoring in business and journalism from "Philadelphia" and mostly writes about football nowadays. You can follow him on Twitter @rjparsons9 or say hi via email at ryanparsons@onwardstate.com.

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