Penn State has officially released the list of teams the basketball team will be playing in its non conference portion of the schedule. The Nittany Lions will be playing eight home games in the 2019-20 season, an increase from last season’s five such games. The schedule also sets up to avoid the kinds of stretches where the Lions are playing several road games with little rest, which should hopefully avoid the kinds of late-game collapses that became commonplace as the season wore on.
Penn State will start the season with home games against Maryland Eastern Shore and Wagner, followed by an early road tilt against Georgetown in the Gavitt Tipoff games. This would be the first time the Nittany Lions play a team other than DePaul in the games. The Lions return for two more home games against Bucknell and Yale as part of the NIT Season Tipoff, then head to Brooklyn to face Ole Miss and the Winner of Okahoma State and Syracuse to finish out the event.
Once again Penn State returns home to face Wake Forest as part of the Big Ten/ACC challenge, followed by a week break where they’ll play two Big Ten opponents (TBD), then finish out the non-conference season against Alabama (second part of a home and home), Central Connecticut State, and Cornell.
We knew most of the teams on this list, but the addition of Maryland Eastern Shore, Wagner, Central Connecticut State, and Cornell add a little bit of balance that was severely lacking in last season’s conference schedule. The increased number of home games should also lead to a better non-conference record.
Make plans to be in the @JordanCenter in Nov. & Dec. as your Nittany Lions play 8 of their 2019-20 nonconference games at home.https://t.co/ZoahMs1JVc ⚪ #ClimbWithUs
— Penn State Men’s Basketball (@PennStateMBB) July 17, 2019