Penn State adds Big East opponent to basketball schedule

Penn State will reportedly face Big East team next college basketball season.

The college basketball season just wrapped up earlier this week with the Florida Gators being crowned national champions, so it is already time to start looking forward to the start of a new season next fall. For Penn State, there was no offseason to participate in after failing to qualify for the Big Ten tournament, and there is a lot of work being done to reshape the roster for head coach Mike Rhoades. The schedule for the Nittany Lions is beginning to come together, however, and a neutral site game against a Big East foe is reportedly on the table.

Penn State will face Providence of the Big East in a neutral site game at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, according to a report from college basketball insider Jon Rothstein of College Hoops Today. An exact date for the game was not reported at this time, although Rothstein did say the game will take place in November. The reporting seems like a single-game neutral site game instead of a preseason tournament.

Penn State is 2-1 all-time against the Friars but the last meeting between the two schools came in 2012. Penn State beat Providence in overtime by a score of 55-52 in the Puerto Rico Tip Off in San Juan, Puerto Rico in November 2012.

Providence is coming off a 12-20 season in the second season under head coach Kim English. The Friars were 21-14 in English’s first season with the program the previous season.

Penn State went 16-15 in the 2024-25 season in the second season under Mike Rhoades. The Nittany Lions will hope to be able to make a return to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament for the first time since 2023.

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