Penn State Athletics unveiled the new men's basketball non-conference schedule yesterday (as well as a nifty new homepage)
↵↵↵2010-11 Penn State Non-Conference Opponents
↵Friday, Nov. 5 vs. East Stroudsburg (Exhibition)
↵Friday, Nov. 12 vs. Lehigh
↵Tues., Nov. 16 vs. Saint Joseph's
↵Fri., Nov. 19 vs. Fairfield
↵Mon., Nov. 22 vs. Central Connecticut State
↵Fri., Nov. 26 @ Mississippi
↵Sun., Nov. 28 vs. Furman
↵Wed., Dec. 1 vs. Maryland (ACC/Big Ten Challenge
↵Sat., Dec. 4 vs. Duquesne
↵Tues., Dec. 7 vs. Mount St. Mary's
↵Sun., Dec. 12 @ Virginia Tech
↵Wed., Dec. 22 vs. Maine
↵
The obvious headliners are reigning ACC co-champ Maryland, an Ole Miss squad led by Chris Warren and a Virginia Tech team than knocked off the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley last year.
↵Lehigh, Fairfield and Duquesne are all quietly solid teams that will provide a nice RPI boost, but they're also capable of beating Penn State, so the Nitts will have to keep their heads up in those games.
↵Everything else is very winnable. Right now, a safe prediction for Penn State coming out of this schedule is 8-3. The Lions are certainly capable of beating anyone on the slate, but they can also lose to anyone. Expect to see a win over one of the big three schools, and maybe a loss to one of the lesser teams.
↵For more analysis, stop by Black Shoe Diaries, where we break down each opponent.