Rank ’em.

Penn State men’s basketball received 90 points in the latest AP Poll released Monday afternoon. Sitting behind four other teams in the “receiving votes” category, voters ranked the Nittany Lions as the 30th-best team in the country.

The Nittany Lions’ bump came after a blowout upset of then-No. 8 Purdue, which dropped to No. 11 in the rankings. The Nittany Lions led the Boilermakers by as many as 26 points during the second half on Thursday, though the game finished with a more conservative deficit of 81-70.

Penn State received votes in the AP Poll earlier this season but dropped out of the rankings entirely after a loss to Clemson. However, Clemson’s upset of then-No. 4 Kentucky paired with Penn State’s win over Purdue was enough to bump the Nittany Lions back up.

Penn State’s next test comes against Rutgers at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, December 10, in Jersey Mike’s Arena. Folks can catch the game on Peacock.

About the Author

Joe Lister

Joe, shockingly, was Onward State's managing editor from 2024-25. It was an honor. He's off employed doing journalism things, hopefully. If you want to complain about anything he's ever written, you can find him on Twitter (iamjoelister), email (jlister2021@gmail.com), or Signal (iamjoelister.93).

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