For the past four years, the words "excitement" and "Penn State basketball" have been about as synonymous as "Duke" and "football school."

It's amazing how things change.

This season is a little over halfway completed, and the Nittany Lions already have 10 wins. The last time they had double digits in the "W" column was when freshman forward Jamelle Cornley was in the eighth grade, and Shaq and Kobe still got along in Los Angeles.

That was back in 2000-2001. At present, Penn State is tied with No. 7 Illinois in the conference standings with a 2-2 record. Students are even beginning clamor at the idea of a possible NIT berth -- the Lions have to finish the conference season at or above .500 to qualify.

Penn State is winning now, but the recipe for future success is also secure. Cornley leads Big Ten freshmen in scoring with 15.1 points per game and is nearly a lock to become the conference's Rookie of the Year.

Fans might even start to confuse Cornley with the second-coming of former All-Big Ten selection Jarrett Stephens (another undersized forward), and sophomore Geary Claxton continues to be Penn State's top offensive threat. The Cornley/Claxton duo will also be together for another two seasons.

Allow me to be the first one to predict this then: The Lions will make the NCAA Tournament in 2008.

Seeing that in print is probably a lot like seeing the Clippers' face-only-a-mother-could-love Sam Cassell on the front cover of GQ. Sure, it's out of place. You may even have to do a double-take, but coach Ed DeChellis' penchant for recruiting finally appears to be paying dividends. After all, the perennial Big Ten laughingstock is tied for fifth in the conference.

The funny thing is, Claxton isn't ready for to rule out any postseason possibilities either. If the forward had mentioned that earlier in the year, we sportswriters would've dismissed it like Rolling Stone ignoring a rumor about Snoop Dogg performing at Brigham Young. In other words, it was interesting but too unlikely.

Well, fo' shizzle my nizzle, then -- because it's happening. Penn State is no longer resting with the cheap wines and the mothballs. No, they've moved out of the cellar.

They may not have quite moved into the spotlight yet, but they're getting there. And in two years, who knows?

Maybe they'll go from getting buzzed off that boxed Merlot to sipping some champagne.