Penn State fans will have an opportunity to support the American Red Cross' relief efforts for survivors of the recent earthquake and tsunamis in southern Asia at two upcoming Penn State basketball games.

More than five million people are homeless in the Bay of Bengal region, according to the Red Cross.

Members of Penn State's Student-Athlete Advisory Board (SAAB) will be accepting donations on behalf of the Red Cross at two contests: the Lady Lions vs. Illinois on Thursday at 7 p.m., and the Nittany Lions vs. Michigan on Saturday at 12:15 p.m.

Volunteers will be stationed at the gates 90 minutes prior to tipoff through the beginning of each game.

The volunteers will have official collection canisters with the donated money designated for the American Red Cross International Response Fund. The fund provides monies for international disaster relief operations, such as the devastating earthquake and tsunamis in southern Asia.

Checks will be accepted and should be made out to the American Red Cross.

Fans unable to attend the games can contribute by calling 1-800-HELP-NOW or logging onto: https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation-form.asp.

The Penn State men's lacrosse team was ranked No. 21 in the recently released Face-Off Yearbook and Inside Lacrosse preseason coaches' poll. The poll was compiled from a survey of 56 coaches from around the country. Johns Hopkins landed the top spot, followed by Syracuse and Princeton.

Coach Glenn Thiel's team will face nine teams ranked in the poll on its 14-game schedule: No. 6 Georgetown, No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 12 Rutgers, No. 13 Duke, No. 14 Ohio State, No. 15 Massachusetts, No. 17 Loyola, No. 20 Hobart and No. 22 Villanova.

The Lions return 17 of 26 lettermen from last year. Captains Will Cutler (Vienna, Va.), Mike Jacober (Providence, R.I.), Will Jones (Annapolis, Md.) and Marc Young (Devon) combined for 34 goals and 20 assists in the 2004 campaign. The Nittany Lions will also return junior Nate Whitaker (Great Falls, Va.), who enters the year with a 27-game scoring streak.

Penn State will hold its annual Alumni Game on Saturday, Feb. 5, to open the 2005 season. The Nittany Lions then host Ohio State on Saturday, Feb. 19, to start the regular season.

The second episode of Penn State Primetime, the 30-minute program dedicated to Penn State's athletic program, is airing throughout this month on College Sports Television (CSTV).

Penn State Primetime consists of interviews with and features on Penn State student-athletes and coaches, highlights from Nittany Lion and Lady Lion athletic events, and other features that encompass the Penn State athletic experience.

For a complete listing of all Penn State Primetime airings, go to: www.collegesports.com/tvschedule.htm.

The third installment of Penn State Primetime will debut at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 30.

College Sports Television is available to more than 30 million homes nationally. The network is available on Penn State's campus cable system (channel 54) and DirecTV (channel 610).