Last year the Penn State Nittany Lions had a chance to make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2001, but a very weak out of conference schedule ruined their strength of schedule and RPI in the selection committee’s eyes. It might have worked out for the best, as the Nittany Lions made a run all the way to the NIT Championship and gained valuable experience at winning tough games in the postseason.

This season, the job was to create an out of conference schedule that would put Penn State in the Big Dance come March, if they are good enough. That is what Ed DeChellis needed to do, but did he?

Last year the lone team from a major conference that Penn State played was at Georgia Tech in the ACC/Big Ten challenge. The next two toughest games were against Atlantic 10 opponents Rhode Island and Temple, both of which ended in losses.

This year the Nittany Lions have two major conference teams on their schedule. They will travel to Virginia on November 30 for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and then on December 12 will host Virginia Tech.

There is a chance Penn State could meet up with two more major conference teams in the Charleston Classic from November 19-22.

The Nittany Lions are guaranteed three games in this tournament. The eight team field looks much stronger than the Philly Hoops Classic field which Penn State participated in last season. The other seven teams in the field are Miami, South Carloina, South Florida, Davidson (without Stephen Curry), Tulane, LaSalle and UNC Wilmington.

Penn State will open the Classic with UNC Wilmington on November 19 and it might be the most important game in the non-conference schedule. If Penn State can get by that game they would then get to most likely play a major conference team assuming Miami, South Carolina and South Florida take care of business too. If Penn State wins the semifinal game they would reward their strength of schedule with another major conference team in the championship game.

The season gets started on Friday against Pennsylvania at home. Penn is usually an Ivy League power, but had a down year last year, which hurt Penn State’s schedule. Hopefully for the Nittany Lions Penn is rounding back into form.

The second game is November 16 against Robert Morris, a team that made the NCAA Tournament last year by going 24-11 and winning their conference.

Sandwiched between the Charleston Classic and the game at Virginia is a home date with Sacred Hart on November 25. Penn State will then stay on the road after Virginia to play at Temple, another team that made the tournament last year.

Penn State will close out their non-conference schedule by playing four straight at home. First America East foe Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) will come to Happy Valley on December 8. Then is the contest with Virginia Tech on December 12. Penn State finishes off against two respectable teams in Gardner Webb and American on December 19 and 21 respectively.

Penn State’s non-conference opponents bring an average RPI of 134, based on RPIs at the end of the 2008-2009 season. That is better than 80 RPI points lower than the average of last season’s 13 non-conference opponents entering that season.

By the numbers DeChellis has done a better job of putting the non-conference schedule together. All of it will depend on Penn State beating the teams they need to and then hoping those teams have good seasons.

Like I said, Penn State will play at least two major conference teams, both from the ACC in Virginia and Virginia Tech. They most likely will play at least one or maybe even two more if they can meet one or two of the Big East’s South Florida, the SEC’s South Carolina, or the ACC’s Miami in the Charleston Classic. This will help the schedule even more.

Will it be enough to put Penn State in the tournament? Chances are if Penn State can take care of business and have a good Big Ten record, they will have a heck of a lot better chance of making it than last year.

Penn State looked impressive in their exhibition performance against Slipper Rock last Friday so my prediction for their non-conference portion of the schedule is for them to go 11-1.

Don’t get me wrong, I can see Penn State losing more than just one game, possibly as many as five (two in the Charleston Classic, at Virginia, at Temple and home against Virginia Tech) but I really don’t see that many loses with Talor Battle’s ability. The Nittany Lions also have a chance at running the table and going 12-0. Only time will tell.