UNIVERSITY PARK — For the first time since 1996, Penn State’s men’s basketball team is nationally ranked.
The Nittany Lions are slotted at No. 23 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll, the school said Monday. Penn State is off to a 9-2 start, its best since the 2014-15 season, and recently picked up a signature triumph with a 76-69 victory over Maryland, which was ranked No. 4 at the time.
PSU was ranked in the Top 25 for 10 weeks during the 1995-96 season, entering it at No. 20 for the first time on Jan. 8. The earliest the Nittany Lions have ever been ranked was on Dec. 6, 1954, when they were ranked 19th in the first Associated Press poll of the 1954-55 season.
After a week away from competition for finals, Penn State plays host to Central Connecticut State at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 20 in the Bryce Jordan Center.
