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2023 NCAA Tournament: Penn State among double-digit seeds with best odds to reach Elite Eight

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

The 2023 NCAA Tournament is set after a dramatic regular season in college basketball! With games right around the corner, Penn State is preparing to snap its NCAA Tournament drought after landing a No. 10 seed.

The Nittany Lions will tip off their March Madness journey Thursday night in a game against Texas A&M. Penn State will also have some of the best odds of a double-digit seed to advance to the Elite Eight.

According to Justin Perri with Shot Quality, the round-by-round probabilities produced by the publication give the Nittany Lions a 6.5% chance of reaching the round of 8. Those odds rank 2nd among all double-digit seeds with just 5 such seeds given at least a 5% chance of reaching the Elite Eight.

Can Penn State put a deep run together?

The Nittany Lions showed during the B1G Tournament that they are just as dangerous as any team in tournament play. Penn State won 3 games in Chicago with those games decided by a total of 9 points. A loss to Purdue in the title game was also a one-possession final score with the Boilermakers winning 67-65.

When it comes to the NCAA Tournament, Penn State does have some key characteristics to look for in a contender. Jalen Pickett is a superstar do-it-all point guard that can get a bucket when needed.

Seth Lundy can also fill it up in a hurry while averaging 14.4 points per game. As a team, Penn State can be lethal from 3-point range with at least 7 players shooting 36% or better and 4 players shooting 40% from deep on the season.

That makeup can lend itself to a one-and-done performance if Penn State goes cold, but it can also yield some big-time upsets if the Nittany Lions are hot early on.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.