The Youngstown State Penguins men's basketball team represents

Youngstown State University Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio. The university is composed of six undergrad ...

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, 11th-most populous city in Ohio with a population of 60,068 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Mahoning ...

. The team currently competes in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of the

Horizon League The Horizon League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the league's eleven member schools are located in ...

, of which it has been a member since 2001. Since 1972, home games are played at the 6,300-seat Beeghly Center on the YSU campus. The Penguins have never appeared in the

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

History

The team was founded in 1927 and played their first game on December 14, 1927, a 53–24 loss to Thiel College. Like many other men's athletic programs, after the 1942–43 season, the program was suspended, but returned in 1946 after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Upon reinstatement in 1946, the Penguins joined the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA), where they competed from 1946 to 1960. As NAIA members, the Penguins qualified for the NAIA tournament four times and had an overall record of 5–4 in tournament play, advancing as far as the quarterfinals in 1957 and 1958. YSU joined the NCAA in 1960 and competed at the Division II level from 1960 to 1981, joining the Mid-Continent Conference in 1978. During their tenure in Division II, the Penguins qualified for the NCAA tournament nine times and had an overall record of 8–11 in tournament play, advancing as far as the regional finals in 1972. YSU moved to Division I in 1981 and joined the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

. They reached the tournament final in 1984 and 1985, losing both times. They played in the OVC until 1988. The Penguins competed as an independent from 1988 to 1992, then rejoined the Mid-Continent Conference, which by then had become a Division I conference. They reached the tournament final in 1998. They joined the Horizon League in 2001. YSU made their first appearance and recorded their first win in a Division I postseason tournament by playing in the 2013 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament where they went 1–1. The 2022–23 season saw the program win their first-ever conference championship by winning the Horizon League regular-season title, along with their first appearance in the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

(NIT). In 2025, they reached the final of the Horizon League tournament for the first time ever.

Postseason results

NCAA Division II tournament results

The Penguins have appeared in the NCAA Division II Tournament nine times. Their combined record is 8–11.

NIT results

The Penguins have appeared in the

one time. Their combined record is 0–1.

NAIA tournament results

The Penguins have appeared in the NAIA Tournament four times. Their combined record is 5–4.

CIT results

The Penguins have appeared in one CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). It was their first Division I postseason tournament appearance in program history. Their record is 1–1. They accepted an invitation to the 2020 CIT, however the tournament was canceled.

The Basketball Classic results

The Penguins have appeared in one of The Basketball Classic Tournaments. It was their third Division I postseason tournament appearance in program history. Their record is 1-1

Year by year results

References

External links

* {{Horizon League men's basketball navbox