Penn State loses at home ... to Bon Jovi?

The Bryce Jordan Center has become one of the toughest places to play in the Big Ten this season.

Unfortunately, the Penn State basketball team has become the second most important group playing there this week. Bon Jovi's Live 2011 Tour kicks off at the BJC a week from today, but the band has scheduled to take over the main arena floor for rehearsal, meaning that both the Penn State men's and women's basketball teams will be relegated to the practice gym and (gasp!) the intramural gym.


"It doesn't matter who it is," head coach Ed DeChellis told FightOnState.com before practice Monday. "I don't care if it's my granddaughter coming in to see Disney on Ice. It's a problem for us in mid-February … not to be able to use your home facility for that many days in a row when you're trying to make your run."

"It affects us when we can't get into our practice facility a day or so before the game, to get used to the background and used to the shooting. But I can't control that. What I can control is getting the guys ready to play."

The issue is that the Athletics Department does not control the Bryce Jordan Center. They actually rent space from the housing and food services department. That right there may be the bigger issue. Do you think a school like North Carolina or Kentucky or even an Ohio State or Michigan State would allow someone to take over the main practice floor for the basketball teams in the middle of February?

Not. A. Chance.

Perhaps therein lies the problem for Penn State's basketball program.

The ironic part?

This is the best season that the Nits have had since a 2002 NCAA Tournament bid. They've beaten MSU, Illinois, and Wisconsin at home and have a legitimate chance getting an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament if Jeff Brooks' shoulder injury isn't as bad as it sounds.