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Penn State Basketball Earns Three Points In AP Top 25 Rankings

For the first time since 2011, Penn State has an appearance in the AP poll.

By Dan Vecellio
Brett Carlsen-USA TODAY Sports

Penn State basketball fans, the ones who have stuck with this team through the many low points and few high points, you have finally been rewarded.

After defeating Atlantic-10 contender George Washington on Sunday afternoon to push their record to 10-1, the best for a Nittany Lion squad since the 1995-96 squad started 13-0, Pat Chambers' team was rewarded with an "Other Receiving Votes" honor in the AP Top 25 poll for the first time since 2011.

UPDATE: Penn State also received one vote in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

AP Top 25

RANK SCHOOL RECORD Pts Prev
1 Kentucky Wildcats (65) 11-0 1,625 1
2 Duke Blue Devils 8-0 1,545 2
3 Arizona Wildcats 10-0 1,505 3
4 Louisville Cardinals 9-0 1,349 4
5 Wisconsin Badgers 10-1 1,331 5
6 Virginia Cavaliers 9-0 1,294 6
7 Villanova Wildcats 10-0 1,215 7
8 Gonzaga Bulldogs 10-1 1,175 9
9 Texas Longhorns 8-1 1,154 8
10 Kansas Jayhawks 8-1 1,102 10
11 Wichita State Shockers 7-1 959 11
12 Ohio State Buckeyes 8-1 838 12
13 Iowa State Cyclones 8-1 772 14
14 Utah Utes 7-2 670 13
15 Oklahoma Sooners 6-2 647 16
16 Washington Huskies 8-0 598 17
17 Maryland Terrapins 10-1 512 19
18 Miami-Florida Hurricanes 9-1 426 20
19 San Diego State Aztecs 7-2 424 18
20 St. John's Red Storm 8-2 353 24
21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 10-1 351 25
22 West Virginia Mountaineers 9-1 333 22
23 Butler Bulldogs 8-2 259 15
24 North Carolina Tar Heels 7-3 122 21
25 Michigan State Spartans 7-3 116 NR
Others receiving votes: Baylor 97, TCU 80, Colorado State 75, UNI 65, Georgetown 41, California 37, Arkansas 19, Seton Hall 14, VCU 6, Old Dominion 4, LSU 4, Oklahoma State 4, Penn State 3, Davidson 1.

Two voters, Doug Doughty of the Roanoke Times and Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, put Penn State in their rankings.

Penn State has the opportunity to increase their non-conference win total to 12 with their last two games before Big Ten play starts. The Lions will take on Drexel in Allentown this Saturday before ending the non-con slate with Dartmouth next Monday. After that, the team gets nine days off to celebrate Christmas and to get ready for their biggest test of the year in their Big Ten opener, taking on Wisconsin in Madison on New Year's Eve. An upset of the Badgers would almost assuredly put Penn State inside the Top-25, but we won't get ahead of ourselves. This team knows that it's a process.

Hopefully, Penn State basketball got you feeling like this:

Or like this:

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