Strength of schedule and quality wins.

Come March, the phrases are driven into your brain over and over as teams make their cases for inclusion in the NCAA tournament.

Prior to the season, members of the Penn State men's basketball team made it clear they wouldn't be happy with anything less than the program's first March Madness bid since 2001. March may be a long time away, but the time is now for the Nittany Lions to begin to make a move.

Penn State will travel to Georgia Tech as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday before hosting Temple Saturday night.

While Georgia Tech isn't expected to be a top team in the ACC this season, a win in Atlanta against a major conference opponent would be a big step for Penn State and a certain resumé booster.

Temple may have lost to Buffalo over the weekend, but the Owls are the defending Atlantic 10 champions and are the biggest name among non-conference opponents traveling to the Bryce Jordan Center this season.

Over the weekend, Penn State missed an opportunity for a big non-conference win with a close loss against Rhode Island in the Philly Hoop Group Classic at the Palestra.

The Rams -- who nearly won at Duke on Nov. 16 -- provided a tough challenge with a trio of talented guards led by Jimmy Baron and athleticism to match the Lions.

But at least Penn State proved it could respond after a loss and throttle a team it was expected to beat. Last year, a first round loss to South Carolina in the Old Spice Classic was followed up by consecutive losses to Rider and Central Florida.

If the Nittany Lions want a Big Dance bid this year, getting through a relatively easy non-conference slate close to unscathed is necessary. At this point, Penn State holds a 6-1 record. But wins against William & Mary, NJIT, Hartford, New Hampshire, Penn and Towson won't do much to impress the selection committee.

A win against Rhode Island would have pitted the Lions against Villanova in the tournament championship game Saturday.

Instead, they were relegated to the consolation match with Towson. Even a loss to Villanova would have at least boosted the team's strength of schedule, while an upset of the No. 17 Wildcats would have been a significant quality win to add to the resume and garnered the team some national respect. And the Lions would have benefited from the experience of playing another top-25 team as they prepare for Big Ten play.

With Army, Mount St. Mary's and Lafayette remaining on the non-conference schedule, the opportunities against big-name opponents are limited to Georgia Tech and Temple.

Win those two games, and the non-conference quality win list at the end of the year won't be completely bare.