The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The intercollegiate athletics logo was commissioned in 1983.
For most sports, Penn State participates as a member institution of the Big Ten Conference and NCAA Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the highest level of collegiate level play. It is one of only 15 universities in the nation that plays Division I FBS football and Division I men's ice hockey. Two sports, men's volleyball and women's ice hockey, participate in different conferences because they are not offered in the Big Ten Conference. The men's volleyball team competes in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) and women's ice hockey competes in Atlantic Hockey America (AHA). The fencing teams operate as independents.
Penn State has finished in the top 25 in every NACDA Directors' Cup final poll, a feat only matched by nine other institutions: Stanford, UCLA, USC, Florida, Ohio State, Texas, North Carolina, and Michigan. The NACDA Director's Cup is a list compiled by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics that charts institutions' overall success in college sports. Penn State's highest finish came in the 1998–99 standings when the Nittany Lions finished 3rd. PSU finished in 5th place in the 2013–14 standings; it was the fifth time the program finished in the top 5 and the tenth time the program finished in the top 10.
Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1991, after being a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference from 1976–79 and 1982-91.
Sports Baseball Basketball Basketball Cross country Cross country Field hockey Football Golf Golf Gymnastics Gymnastics Ice hockey Ice hockey Lacrosse Lacrosse Soccer Soccer Softball Swimming & diving Swimming & diving Tennis Tennis Track and field† Track and field† Volleyball Volleyball Wrestling Co-ed sports Fencing
Baseball
Penn State baseball currently plays their home games at 5,570-seat Medlar Field and have been coached by Mike Gambino since the 2024 season. Since joining the Big Ten, the Nittany Lions won the 1996 regular season title and advanced to the Big Ten Tournament championship game twice, most recently in 2024.
Throughout its history, Penn State has played in 17 NCAA baseball tournaments, advancing to the College World Series five times (1952, 1957, 1959, 1963, 1973) and finishing as runners-up to California in 1957. Penn State's most recent College World Series appearance came in 1973, while its most recent NCAA tournament berth came in 2000, when the Nittany Lions won the Montclair Regional before falling in the Austin Super Regional.
Basketball
Men's basketball
Penn State's men's basketball program reached the Final Four once in 1954, though the best postseason finish in recent years occurred in 2001 with a trip to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament after a win over UNC in the round of 32. The most recent postseason championship for Penn State was the 2018 National Invitation Tournament on March 29, 2018. Penn State outscored Utah 82–66 to capture its second men's basketball national title in school history and its third postseason tournament title since winning the Atlantic-10 Tournament in 1991. The Nittany Lions lost in the first round of the 2011 NCAA tournament and appeared in the 2023 NCAA tournament, falling to the Texas Longhorns in the second round.
Notable alumni include: Frank Brickowski, John Amaechi, Calvin Booth, Mike Costello, Stanley Pringle, Geary Claxton, Jamelle Cornley, Lamar Stevens. Mike Rhodes is the current coach.
Women's basketball
The Lady Lions, the Penn State women's basketball team and the only athletic team not known as "Nittany Lions", have had more success than their male counterparts, often gaining berths into the women's NCAA tournament, reaching the Final Four once in 2000. The Lady Lions have reached the NCAA tournament more than any other Big Ten team with 25 appearances as of 2014. The Lady Lions have won 8 Big Ten Regular Season Championships and 2 Big Ten tournament Championships. The most recent postseason championship won by Penn State was the 1998 Women's National Invitation Tournament. Carolyn Kieger was in her second season as head coach of the Lady Lions in 2020–21.
Boxing Penn State organized its boxing program in 1919 under the direction of Dick Harlow. He was succeeded by Leo Florian Hauck, who remained head coach until his death in 1950. His assistant, Ed Sulkowski, served as head coach until the program was dropped in 1954 due to lack of interest. Penn State won the first NCAA boxing tournament in 1932, which it also hosted. The Lions also won pre-NCAA national titles in 1924, 1927, 1929, and 1930, during the time of a boxing rivalry with Navy.
Cross country The men's cross country team won NCAA titles in 1942, 1947, and 1950. Before the NCAA began sponsoring the cross country championship in 1938, and unlike today, the annual ICAAAA meet was a premier national championship event for track and field and cross country. The team won ICAAAA championships in 1926, 1927, 1928 and 1930. Penn State runners won the individual ICAAAA titles in 1920 (John Romig), 1927 and 1928 (William Cox, consecutively). PSU men also won ICAAAA team titles in 1950, 1951, 1960 and 2000, as well as individual crowns in 1938, 1946, 1987 and 2004.
Fencing Penn State has been a fencing powerhouse, having won a record 13 national championships in the sport since the NCAA began awarding titles in combined men's and women's fencing in 1990. The team finished as champion or runner-up in 21 of the first 25 years of the combined tournament. The program won six consecutive NCAA Championships from 1995 to 2000.
Emmanuil G. Kaidanov was the coach of the fencing squads during most of that period. The women's fencing team won national AIAW titles in 1980 and 1981, followed by an NCAA championship in 1983. The team recruits both nationally and throughout the world.
Andrew Mackiewicz won the NCAA Men's Sabre Championship in both his freshman and sophomore years, in 2015 and 2016, and went on to compete for the United States in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Penn State Nittany Lions assistant fencing coach George G. Abashidze, after a United States Center for SafeSport investigation found he had committed sexual misconduct by groping female fencing coach Jennifer Oldham in 2017, was banned by USA Fencing from its activities for three years due to his conduct, prompting Penn State to terminate him on March 4, 2019, ending his 10-year tenure with the team. A Penn State investigation into the matter confirmed Oldham's assault and harassment claims against Abashidze, but maintained that the assistant coach had not violated any university policies. Oldham sued Penn State in 2020, charging that it had tried to cover up the incident.
In May 2020, a complaint was filed by Oldham after Glon allegedly failed to report sexual misconduct groping allegations against his assistant coach, George Abashidze. After an investigation by SafeSport into the same matter, finding Abashidze responsible, he was ultimately required to serve a six-month term of probation for such failure."Penn State settles suit that accused ex-fencing coach of sexual harassment," Penn Live.
In September 2022, Penn State placed head fencing coach Wes Glon on paid leave pending more information about restrictions imposed on him by USA Fencing; he subsequently retired in April 2023. In April 2022, a former Penn State fencer had filed a federal complaint in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania against Glon and the university alleging physical, verbal, and psychological abuse by Glon. In an August 2023 ruling that allowed Moss' lawsuit to proceed, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Brann wrote that Glon's alleged conduct "crossed the line between aggressive coaching and sexual harassment, and was "certainly unbecoming of a collegiate athletic professional.""Ex-Penn State fencer, university settle lawsuit alleging sexual harassment by longtime coach," Centre Daily. In October 2024, the fencer, university, and Glon settled the lawsuit.
Field hockey
The women's field hockey team is coached by Char Morett, a former Penn State field hockey player herself and 1984 Olympic bronze medalist.
Penn State is one of the premier programs in the nation with 28 NCAA Tournament appearances, the third most in the nation. Since joining the Big Ten in 1992, the Nittany Lions have been dominant with more Big Ten Tournament titles than any other team and the second most regular season titles behind Michigan.
In 2007, the women's field hockey team reached the National Championship game, but fell to undefeated UNC, 3–0. In their tournament run, they were able to defeat two-time defending champion Maryland, 1–0, and defending national runner-up Wake Forest, 2–0. Jen Long was nominated for the Honda Award for her efforts. They also finished as NCAA runners-up in 2002, losing to Wake Forest in the title game 2–0 after defeating Old Dominion 3–2 in the semifinals. 2002 marked the first time Penn State reached the NCAA Finals and second time reaching the Final Four. The team won the AIAW national championships in 1980 and 1981. In 2011 the women's field hockey team won its fifth ever Big Ten title after defeating Michigan 3–2, and first since 1998 when they again defeated Michigan 3–1.
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 largest crowd ever at Beaver Stadium was on November 2nd, 2024, as 111,030 people watched the Nittany Lions fall to the Ohio State Buckeyes by a score of 20 to 13. The school has earned a reputation as "Linebacker U" for the number of high-quality linebackers trained. Joe Paterno was the head coach for the Nittany Lion football team from 1966 until he was fired on November 9, 2011, in the aftermath of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. He was regarded as one of the most successful national coaches, holding the record for wins and bowl appearance. Penn State plays in two football "trophy games" with other members of the Big Ten: the Governor's Victory Bell with the University of Minnesota and the 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 schools regularly, including Pitt, Syracuse, West Virginia, Notre Dame, Maryland, and Alabama. Penn State has won the prestigious Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy, awarded for Eastern football supremacy, a record 29 times as of 2013. Penn State has also been named the ECAC FBS Team of the Year for a record 13th time.
Penn State won consensus National Championships in 1982 and 1986, both under Paterno. The 1986 team won by defeating the University of Miami in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl, which remains one of the most watched college football games 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 by various selecting organizations. Penn State currently has a FBS bowl record of 31–20–2.
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.