"On the bubble" is a common term used in auto racing to describe the last driver to make the field for a race. It can also be used to describe where the men's basketball team is and its chances to make the 64-team NCAA basketball tournament.

The teams will be selected 5:30 Sunday afternoon on CBS-TV. On that day, as the Lions look in the door from the outside, there will be lots of pacing and sweaty hands on the team.

"It's going to be exciting," Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "It's just going to be great to really have a shot to maybe see our name come up on that board. And to be in that position is really exciting."

"I think I'll be pretty excited," point guard Freddie Barnes said. "I think we have a good chance, but I'm not going to be too disappointed if we don't make it because I know we had a chance to determine our own destiny and we didn't."

It is a long time to wait until Sunday, but fifth-year senior Ed Fogell says it's fun.

"This is about one of the only times that we don't have control of our own destiny," Fogell said. "It's up to other people to decide what we're going to do. All you can do is sit back and enjoy it and wait it out. I'm sure we'll all be glued to the TV set."

The Lions' chances were severely damaged when they lost to Massachusetts, 64-59, in the Atlantic 10 semifinals Monday night. NCAA representatives would not comment on the Lions' chances of qualifying for the tournament.

If the Lions don't make it to the NCAAs they have a good chance of making the National Invitation Tournament. But NIT Executive Director Peter Carlesimo would not comment on the Lions' chances of making the NIT. The factors for picking teams are their record, schedule and power rating, Carlesimo said.

Parkhill doesn't put a lot of stock in power ratings, which take everything into consideration and are also used to determine NCAA teams.

"We really don't know about what (the NCAA's) procedure is, but there's so much talk about power ratings," he said. "And then you look at some of the automatic bids, so then power ratings can't be the dominant factor or some of the leagues wouldn't get automatic bids."

The selections to the NIT are also made on Sunday, but the results are sent over the Associated Press wire around midnight, Carlesimo said. Parkhill and the players said they would be disappointed if they were picked for the NIT instead of the NCAAs, but wouldn't turn the bid down.

"We're not in a situation where we can turn our nose up to the NIT," Parkhill said. "It's not like Penn State's been in postseason play that many years in the history of the school. That would be a significant accomplishment to be in postseason play two years in a row."

If the Lions do get selected for the NCAA Tournament there is a strong possibility they might have to go out of the East to play. But to a team that hasn't played in the tournament in 25 years, it's not a big deal.

"They could put us in Alaska and I wouldn't care," Parkhill quipped.