Program history
Penn State
in the tournament.
Penn State appears in 10 tournaments in this archive, between 1942 and 2023, with an all-time record of 9–10. It has reached the national semifinals once — 1954 — without reaching the title game.
0 of its 3 games decided by three points or fewer went its way.
Its biggest upset as the underdog came in 1991, when a 13th seed beat the 4th-seeded UCLA 74–69. The reverse happened in 1996: as a 5th seed it lost to the 12th-seeded Arkansas 86–80.
Its longest absence ran 26 years, between 1965 and 1991.
This archive carries no numeric seed before 1979. Since then it has entered as high as a 5th seed and as low as a 13th.
- 10 Appearances
- 9–10 All-time record
- 0 Titles
Season by season
| Year | Seed | Record | Coach | Conference | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 | — | 18–3 | — | Independent | opening round |
| 1952 | — | 20–6 | Elmer Gross | Independent | Regional Fourth Place |
| 1954 | — | 18–6 | Elmer Gross | Independent | National Third Place |
| 1955 | — | 18–10 | John Egli | Independent | Regional Fourth Place |
| 1965 | — | 20–4 | John Egli | Independent | First round |
| 1991 | 13 | 20–10 | — | Atlantic 10 | lost in the Round 2 to Eastern Michigan, 68–71 (OT) |
| 1996 | 5 | 21–7 | Jerry Dunn | Big Ten Conference | lost in the Round of 64 to Arkansas, 80–86 |
| 2001 | 7 | 21–12 | Jerry Dunn | Big Ten Conference | lost in the Regional Semifinal to Temple, 72–84 |
| 2011 | 10 | 19–15 | Ed DeChellis | Big Ten Conference | lost in the round of 64 to Temple, 64–66 |
| 2023 | 10 | 23–14 | Micah Shrewsberry | Big Ten Conference | lost in the round of 32 to Texas, 66–71 |
How the games went
| Round | W–L |
|---|---|
| Opening | 3–1 |
| Round of 64 | 4–3 |
| Round of 32 | 1–1 |
| Round of 8 | 0–1 |
| Semifinal | 1–4 |
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