Penn State Basketball: What are the Nittany Lions' NIT Chances?

Penn State's mini-run in the B1G Tournament earlier this week renewed speculation that the Nittany Lions could have an outside shot at being one of the 32 teams selected for the NIT, especially if had they beaten Purdue:

@SpreadHDGFX @bflip33 If PSU wins today I’d have them in my bracket somewhere for sure.

— John Templon (@nybuckets) March 13, 2015

That's John Templon of Big Apple Buckets, who has been tracking NIT Bracketology all season long. Templon's most recent update has Penn State as one of 16 notable teams on the outside looking in. At 18-16 and with an RPI of 106 as of Selection Sunday, the Nittany Lions are probably going to miss out on a return to the tournament they won back in 2009.

The NIT selection process tends to be less cut and dry than the NCAA Tournament's, however, and teams resumes similar to Penn State's have made it before. For instance, 17-15 West Virginia made the tournament a year ago. But with at least 12 automatic bids going to regular season conference champions in this year's field, the bubble might be too big for Penn State to sneak in.

We'll find out for sure at 8:30 p.m. ET during the NIT Selection Show, which is televised on ESPNU and available for streaming on WatchESPN. If Penn State isn't selected, sorry, there is no CBI selection show (thank goodness). Though it doesn't seem as though PSU has interest in the CBI after ending the conference tournament on such a high note.