Penn State Nittany Lions
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| Penn State Nittany Lions | |
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| University | Pennsylvania State University |
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| Conference | Big Ten |
| NCAA | Division I |
| Athletics director | Tim Curley |
| Location | State College, PA |
| Varsity Teams | 29 |
| Stadium | Beaver Stadium |
| Arena | Bryce Jordan Center |
| Mascot | Nittany Lion |
| Nickname | Nittany Lions and Lady Lions |
| Fight Song | Fight On, State |
| Colors | Blue and White
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| Homepage | www.gopsusports.com |
The Penn State Nittany Lions (men) and Lady Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The Intercollegiate Athletics Logo (right), was commissioned in 1983. [1]
Penn State participates in the NCAA Division I-A and in the Big Ten Conference for most sports. A few sports participate in different conferences because they are not sponsored by the Big Ten: men's lacrosse in the ECAC Lacrosse League; women's lacrosse in American Lacrosse Conference; and men's volleyball in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA).[2] The fencing teams operate as independents.
The Penn State All-Sports Museum, a museum honoring all Penn State Nittany Lion athletes is located near Gate B of Beaver Stadium. The upper level of the museum is dedicated to indoor sports, and the lower level of the museum is dedicated to outdoor sports. The football exhibit on the lower level honors the well-known Penn State football team, the Penn State Blue Band, Penn State Cheerleading, and the student athletes who have portrayed the Nittany Lion mascot.
Penn State has finished in the top 25 each of the 13 years that the NACDA Director's Cup has been in existence. This is a list compiled by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics that charts institutions' overall success in college sports. PSU finished 15th in the 2005-6 standings[3].
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[edit] Football
See also: Penn State Nittany Lions football
Penn State has a large football following and attracts tens of thousands of visitors to its campus; the surrounding area is known as "Happy Valley" for tailgating and games on autumn Saturdays in Beaver Stadium. The stadium is the second-largest in the country with a seating capacity of over 107,282. The largest crowd ever at Beaver Stadium was on September 14, 2002, as 110,753 watched the Nittany Lions defeat the University of Nebraska by a score of 40-7. The school has earned a reputation as "Linebacker U" for the number of high-quality linebackers trained.[4] Joe Paterno has been the head coach for the Nittany Lion football team since 1966 and is regarded as one of the most successful and venerable national coaches. Penn State plays in two football "trophy games" with other members of the Big Ten. They are for the Governor's Victory Bell with the University of Minnesota and the season-ending Land Grant Trophy game versus Michigan State University.
Prior to joining the Big Ten, Penn State was one of the strongest of the independent schools in college football. They played a number of Eastern schools regularly, including Pitt, Syracuse, and West Virginia, as well as national teams like Notre Dame and Alabama. Penn State has won the prestigious Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy, awarded for Eastern football supremacy, a record 26 times as of 2005.
Penn State won consensus National Championships in 1982 and 1986, both under Coach Paterno. The 1986 team won by defeating the University of Miami in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl, which remains the highest watched college football game in history. The school has had a number of other undefeated teams including 1909, 1911, 1912, 1920, 1921, 1947, 1968, 1969, 1973 and 1994, some of which have been awarded national championships from various sources. Penn State has the best winning percentage of any school in bowl games with a record of 25-12-2[5].
Penn State is also among the leaders nationwide in terms of players advancing to the professional level. As of 2006, 29 former Penn State players and coaches were on the rosters of NFL teams, the tenth-highest such placement rate in the country. Penn State has been represented in at least one of the teams participating in the Super Bowl 37 of the 41 times the championship game has been played.[1]
A recent report indicated that Penn State's football program ranks 12th nationwide in terms of economic contributions to each program's university, athletic department, conference, and community. The report, based on ticket sales, sponsorships, football program expenses, athletic department expenses (non-football), shared conference profits, and county revenue figures during home football games, revealed that the Nittany Lions are presently worth roughly US$63 million.[2]
[edit] Basketball
Penn State's men's basketball program reached the Final Four in 1954, though the best finish in recent years occurred in 2000-2001 with a trip to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament after a win over the UNC in the round of 32.
The women's basketball teams have had more success, often gaining berths into the women's NCAA tournament. Rene Portland, head coach since 1980 until her resignation on March 22, 2007, was been the source of recent controversy due to her alleged stances on homosexuality among players on her team.
[edit] Other sports
Penn State has many notable achievements in other sports. The school has a strong history in both men's and women's volleyball. In 1994, Penn State became the first team outside of the state of California to win a NCAA Division I National Championship in men's volleyball. Penn State's women's volleyball team has won ten Big Ten Conference championships in sixteen years, including the 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 titles, and was the NCAA division I national champion in 1999.
Penn State is a fencing powerhouse, winning a record 10 national championships in the sport since the NCAA began awarding titles in 1990. In fact, the team has finished either 1st or 2nd every season since 1990 except for 2005 (when they finished 3rd). Emmanuil G. Kaidanov is the highly regarded coach of the fencing squads. The team recruits both nationally and throughout the globe and often has a number of highly touted international players.
Women's soccer has also been particularly strong, as the program has won nine straight Big Ten Championships as of the 2006 season.
[edit] Facilities
The football team plays in the aforementioned Beaver Stadium. The men's and women's basketball teams play in the Bryce Jordan Center. Most of the other indoor teams play at Rec Hall, which was previously the long term home for the basketball teams as well. The school also is home to the Horace Ashenfelter Indoor Facility.
Construction has been completed for a new baseball stadium named Medlar Field at Lubrano Park and it opened in June 2006. The stadium is host to both the University baseball team as well as the State College Spikes, a minor league baseball team. The ballpark is oriented towards the east, offering a view of Mount Nittany.
Additionally, the university operates the Penn State Golf Courses, two courses for the golf teams, students, faculty, and the general public. The Intercollegiate Athletics Department operates the Stone Valley Recreation Area, approximately twenty miles southeast of State College.
[edit] Current varsity sports programs
[edit] Current intercollegiate club sports
The university is home to a number of intercollegiate club sports as well. The popular men's hockey team, the Icers, plays in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (AHCA). The women's hockey team plays in the East Coast Women's Hockey League (ECWHL). The PSU Roller Hockey team competes in the Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (ECRHA). The men's and women's rugby team (Lady Ruggers) participate in the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union (MARFU) territory at large and the Potomac Rugby Union for local divisional play. Both teams field perennial competitive sides; the women won the collegiate championship in 2000 and 2004.
[edit] Big Ten championships
- 1992-93 - Women's Volleyball (co)
- 1993-94 - Women's Basketball (co), Field Hockey, Men's Soccer, Wommen's Volleyball
- 1994-95 - Women's Basketball (co and tournament), Football
- 1995-96 - Baseball, Women's Basketball (tournament), Field Hockey (tournament)
- 1996-97 - Field Hockey (tournament), Women's Volleyball (co)
- 1997-98 - Field Hockey (co and tournament), Women's Volleyball (co)
- 1998-99 - Field Hockey (season and tournament), Women's Soccer (season and tournament), Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Volleyball
- 1999-00 - Women's Basketball, Women's Soccer, Women's Volleyball
- 2000-01 - Women's Soccer (season and tournament)
- 2001-02 - Women's Soccer (season and tournament), Women's Swimming & Diving
- 2002-03 - Women's Basketball, Men's Gymnastics, Men's Soccer, Women's Soccer
- 2003-04 - Women's Basketball, Women's Indoor Track & Field, Women's Soccer, Women's Volleyball
- 2004-05 - Women's Soccer, Women's Swimming & Diving, Women's Volleyball
- 2005-06 - Field Hockey, Football (co), Men's Soccer, Women's Soccer, Women's Volleyball, Women's Swimming & Diving
- 2006-07 - Women's Soccer (season and tournament), Women's Volleyball
[edit] National championships
- Men's
- Boxing - 1924, 1927, 1929, 1930, 1932
- Cross Country - 1942 (co), 1947, 1950
- Football - 1982, 1986
- Gymnastics - 1948, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1965, 1976, 2000, 2004
- Soccer - 1926 (co), 1929, 1933, 1936 (co), 1937 (co), 1938, 1939 (co), 1940 (co), 1949 (co), 1954, 1955 (co)
- Volleyball - 1994
- Wrestling - 1921, 1953
- Women's
- Bowling - 1979
- Fencing - 1980, 1981, 1983
- Field Hockey - 1980, 1981
- Gymnastics - 1978, 1980
- Lacrosse - 1978, 1979, 1980, 1987, 1989
- Volleyball - 1999
- Combined
- Fencing - 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2007
[edit] Penn State radio affiliates
See also: 2006/2007 PSU Network Affiliates
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[edit] External links
- Penn State Athletics Official Site
| The Pennsylvania State University | ||
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| Academics |
College of Earth and Mineral Sciences • Schreyer Honors College • Smeal College of Business • Commonwealth Campuses |
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| Athletics |
Beaver Stadium • Bryce Jordan Center • Football • Governor's Victory Bell • Land Grant Trophy • Medlar Field at Lubrano Park • Penn State Golf Courses • Rec Hall |
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| Campus |
Hetzel Union Building • Old Main • Pattee and Paterno Libraries • Penn State Creamery • Residence halls • ResCom • University Park |
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| People |
George W. Atherton • James A. Beaver • Milton S. Eisenhower • Joe Paterno • Rene Portland • Graham Spanier • Fred Waring |
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| Media |
The Daily Collegian • Phroth • The Lion 90.7FM • WPSU-FM • WPSU-TV |
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| Student Life / Traditions |
Alma Mater • Blue Band • Fight On, State • Mount Nittany • Nittany Lion • Nittwits • Old Coaly • Penn State Dance Marathon • State College • The Nittany Lion |
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| Big Ten Conference |
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| Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Michigan • Michigan State • Minnesota • Northwestern • Ohio State • Penn State • Purdue • Wisconsin |
