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Mike Rhoades says Penn State will play Big Ten home game at The Palestra

IMG_0985by:Griffin McVeigh•05/15/23•

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Mike Rhoades was introduced as Penn State men's basketball's 15th head coach on Thursday. (Credit: Penn State Athletics)

Mike Rhoades is off and running as the Penn State head coach, looking to continue the progress Micah Shrewsberry made before leaving for Notre Dame. The Nittany Lions will be looking to once again be a competitive team in the Big Ten and potentially make noise in the NCAA Tournament. A second round exit will be looked to be improved upon in Year One of Rhoades.

Before getting to March, there is of course a regular season schedule to play. The full 2023-2024 slate has not been set for Penn State, with non conference matchups still be finalized. But Rhoades did reveal a bit of news to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein on Monday.

A Penn State home game will be played at The Palestra in Philadelphia this season. There will be a Big Ten team on the other sideline, making for a conference matchup away from Happy Valley. Just a three hour drive east, plenty of Nittany Lion fans will be there to back out the arena.

No official opponent has yet been revealed. Penn State has 10 Big Ten games on the schedule and some of the conference’s top programs are available for picking. No matter who the opposing team ends up being, it will be an exciting event for Penn State fans across the state.

The Palestra to host Penn State for fourth time

The Palestra has been nicknamed the Cathedral of College Basketball, currently being the home of both Penn men and women’s basketball. The capacity is just under 9,000 people and was one of the original venues for the Philadelphia Big 5.

No arena has hosted more NCAA Tournament games in the country than the Palestra. Plenty of historic matchups have taken place.

Penn State does have history at The Palestra, playing multiple Big Ten regular season games over the past few years. Last year came against Purdue, resulting in a home team lost. The Boilermakers were ranked the No. 1 team in the country at the time. Zach Edey (30 points) and Jalen Pickett (26 points) both had incredible nights in front of the Philly crowd.

Prior to that, the Nittany Lions were 2-0, taking down Michigan State (2017) and Iowa (2020). In what has been a recent tradition for the program, Rhoades now has been back. Penn State will be hoping to get back to winning ways at The Palestra once the day finally comes.