By Jackson Thibodeau, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - On the day of the 2012 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament selection show, let's take a look at what the Nittany Lions need to fall in place to receive one of nine at-large bids.

Tournament Information:
- 61 teams compete in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse. By season's end, the field is narrowed to just 16 teams that compete in the NCAA tournament.
- Seven conferences receive automatic bids if they win their conference tournaments (America East, BIG EAST, Colonial Athletic Association, ECAC, Ivy League, Metro Atlantic, Patriot League).
- The remaining nine spots in the tournament belong to at-large bids.
- 2012 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championships will take place at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

Conference Championships:

NOTE: All rankings are Men's Lacrosse RPI.

ECAC Championship (May 4, 2012)

- No. 3 Loyola Md. def. No. 15 Fairfield, 14-7
- Loyola earns automatic bid for winning ECAC.
- What Penn State needed: A Loyola win was a plus for the Nittany Lions, as Penn State needs as many favored teams to win their conference championships as possible.

Patriot League Championship (May 4, 2012)
- No. 6 Lehigh def. No. 9 Colgate, 16-14
- Lehigh earns automatic bid for winning Patriot League.
- What Penn State needed: A Lehigh win was a positive for Penn State, although Colgate may still earn an at-large bid.

America East Championship (May 5, 2012)
- No. 39 Stony Brook def. No. 40 Albany, 14-8
- Stony Brook earns the automatic bid for winning the America East.
- What Penn State needed: The loser of this contest will not receive an at-large bid in the tournament, meaning that the outcome did not affect the Nittany Lions.

BIG EAST Championship (May 5, 2012)
- No. 19 Syracuse def. No. 29 St. Johns, 12-4
- Syracuse earned the automatic bid for winning the BIG EAST.
- What Penn State needed: The way things unfolded in the BIG EAST was a blow to the Nittany Lions after St. Johns defeated Notre Dame.  The fact that Notre Dame will likely an at-large bids could hurt the Lions' chances.

CAA Championship (May 5, 2012)
- No. 2 UMass def. No. 20 Drexel, 18-12
- UMass earns the automatic bid for winning the CAA.
- What Penn State needed: The Nittany Lions needed UMass to win to avoid the Minutemen taking up another at-large bid if they were to lose.

Ivy League Championship (May 6, 2012)
- No. 22 Yale vs. No. 12 Princeton
- What Penn State needs: The Nittany Lions need Princeton to win this game, because Yale is not likely to receive an at-large bid if they are defeated.

MAAC Championship (May 6, 2012)
- No. 48 Canisius vs. No. 32 Siena
- What Penn State needs: Due to the low RPI rankings of these two teams, the team that falls in this contest most likely will not receive an at-large bid.

Where the Nittany Lions stand:
- 9-6, 5-1 CAA
- RPI: 11
- Top 5 RPI wins: Notre Dame
- Top 25 RPI wins: Drexel, Ohio State, Villanova, Hofstra
- Penn State can be considered a "bubble team" as of right now because the Nittany Lions are riding on several outcomes to boost their chances of earning an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament.