NEW ORLEANS — Every coach will say that a senior must show leadership if their team plans to be successful in March. Nothing is different for the Penn State men's basketball team.

Playing in their first-ever NCAA Tournament, every experience this Nittany Lion group has this weekend will be something new, whether it be playing in the monumentally big Superdome or seeing the tournament banners in the locker room areas.

Before yesterday's shootaround in the Superdome, the Lions took pictures, had their video cameras and stopped for a few minutes to allow 6-foot-1 guard Joe Crispin the opportunity to dunk for CBS broadcasters Jim Nantz and Billy Packer.

But the journey of the past few weeks has been painstaking for Penn State.

When the team stumbled at the end of their regular season, losing three of its last four games, seniors Joe Cripin, Gyasi Cline-Heard and Titus Ivory regrouped the squad and clinched an NCAA berth with two huge wins in the Big Ten Tournament. The second of those victories came against Michigan State in an exciting finish with a Joe Crispin 3-pointer to seal the deal.

But Crispin and the Lions still haven't found true pleasure on the basketball court this season.

"I'm not happy right now," Joe Crispin said 10 minutes after he learned the Lions were headed to the Big Dance in the Big Easy. "It's more relief."

Crispin and the rest of the Penn State squad won't be smiling tonight, either, when they finally make the long awaited trip onto the Superdome floor. The only way the team will put a grin on their face is if they walk off the floor tonight victorious, and to prepare for the Princeton-North Carolina winner on Sunday.

And although none of the national media is predicting a Penn State victory, the Lions are confident they can make some noise in the Superdome.

""I have seen a lot of things and the things I see, not a lot of people have us to win," Cline-Heard said. "But people can say whatever they want."

Penn State men's basketball coach Jerry Dunn summed up his team's chances in one way. It has nothing to do with playing in a dome, or who the Lions are matched up against. The sixth-year coach said the winner will be determined by who makes solid plays on both ends of the floor.

"It all comes down to execution," Dunn said. "The wills of both teams will make a difference in who wins or loses."