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. 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. 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." In October 2024, the fencer, university, and Glon settled the lawsuit. 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 on October 13, 2007 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 October 21, 2017, as 110,823 people watched the Nittany Lions defeat the
University of Michigan by a score of 42–13. 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. A 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. In July 2012, the NCAA announced several punitive measures as a result of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. In addition to vacating all wins between 1998 and 2011, Penn State was banned from post-season play for four years, and the number of scholarships was reduced. Players were free to transfer during the 2012 season without sitting out a year, but few did so. After details of the case emerged, the NCAA restored all vacated wins and rescinded both the remaining ban on post-season play and scholarship reduction.
Gymnastics In 2007, the men's
gymnastics team won their NCAA record 14th national championship, by defeating powerhouse
Oklahoma at
Rec Hall, with the score of 221.000–220.200, denying them a
three-peat. The women's team won the AIAW national championship twice, in 1978 and 1980, edging out other dominant teams such as Cal State-Fullerton and Utah.
Ice hockey Men's ice hockey Aside from five years in the 1940s, the men's ice hockey program has had varsity status since the 2012–13 season. The team plays in the
Pegula Ice Arena and competed as an independent Division I team in the 2012–2013 season. In the 2013–2014 season, the team began play in the Big Ten conference's first year of sponsorship of men's ice hockey. Recently, the team achieved the number one ranking in Division I men's hockey for the first time in program history. Before becoming a varsity program, the men's
ice hockey team, the Icers, competed at the
American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Men's Division I level and was a member of the
Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL) from 2007–08 through 2010–11. Penn State won seven ACHA DI National Championships in 1984, 1990, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003. The Division II men's hockey club team were champions of the
University Hockey League during the 2003–04 and 2001–02 seasons; they were runners-up during the 2002–03, 2000–01, and 1998–99 seasons.
Women's ice hockey The women's program moved to
NCAA Division I level beginning in the 2012–13 season and joined
College Hockey America (CHA), becoming the fifth member of the conference. After the 2023–24 season, CHA merged with the
Atlantic Hockey Association to form
Atlantic Hockey America. The team also plays in the Pegula Ice Arena. inducted into the
National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, including Mary McCarthy Stefano, Gillian D. Rattray, Barb Jordan, Betsy Williams Dougherty, Candace "Candy" Finn Rocha, Joanne Connelly and Thomas R. Hayes.
Soccer Men's soccer Before the NCAA began its tournament in 1959, the annual national champion was declared by the
Intercollegiate Soccer Football Association from 1926 to 1958, the result of polls and the subjective opinion of the ISFA administrators. In that time, Penn State shared eight national championships and was selected three times as champion outright (1929, 1938, 1954). The rival College Soccer Bowl was held from 1950–1952 in an attempt to decide a national champion on the field. Penn State gained a last-minute tie in the 1950 championship final. The team won in 1951; however, the ISFA failed to select Penn State that year.
Women's soccer The women's soccer team won its first NCAA national championship in 2015. The program has been particularly strong in recent years, as the team won 15 straight Big Ten Championships through the 2012 season, which was an all-time Big Ten record for women's teams. The streak surpassed the 12 by Michigan swimming & diving of the 1990s and led the then-ongoing run by Northwestern's women's tennis squad, which had won 14 straight titles through 2011.
Softball The Nittany Lions softball team began play in 1965. The team has made ten NCAA Tournament appearances in 1983, 1985, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011 and 2024. The current head coach is
Clarisa Crowell.
Track and field Before the NCAA began sponsoring an
indoor national championship in 1965, the men's indoor track and field team won
IC4A titles in 1942 and 1959. PSU men also won IC4A team titles in 1984, 1987, 2001, 2003 and 2006.
Volleyball Penn State is home to one of the top men's and women's
volleyball programs. Penn State is one of only 5 schools—and the only school not in California—to win an NCAA Championship for both men and women's volleyball, the others being Stanford, UCLA,
USC, and
Long Beach State.
Men's volleyball team is honored at the
White House by President
George W. Bush in June 2008 after winning the
2008 NCAA Championship The men's volleyball team is coached by Mark Pavlik. The program has won two NCAA
National Championships in 1994 and 2008 and 16
EIVA titles out of 17 years, including 10 consecutive. They finished as NCAA National runners-up in 1982, 1995 and 2006, to UCLA each time (twice at Rec Hall). They reached the NCAA final four 24 times including 13 out of the last 14 years through the 2008 season and an NCAA record 10 consecutive (1998–2008). The men's first national title came in 1994, when they beat powerhouse
UCLA in five sets after being down 11–4 in the fourth set and then winning the fourth 15–12 and the fifth with the same score. The win made Penn State the first school outside of California in the 24-year history until then to win an NCAA Men's volleyball championship. They won the NCAA title again in 2008, defeating
Pepperdine, 3–1. With the win, Penn State men and women's programs swept the volleyball championships in the same academic year, joining Stanford from 1996–97 to be the only schools to accomplish the rare feat. Pavlik was named the 2008 "National Coach of the Year" by the
American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Women's volleyball in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in
Chesapeake Energy Arena The Penn State women's volleyball team, one of the nation's premier volleyball programs, is coached by
Russ Rose, who, since his first season in 1979, has led the Nittany Lions to a record of 1,189 and 186, an .865 winning percentage, through the end of 2015. Rose stands as the NCAA Division I all-time winningest coach, as he owns the NCAA Division I Records for win percentage and total victories. Rose has won all but 51 of the program's wins. On December 17, 2009, Rose earned his 1,000th career victory with a win against
Hawaii in the
2009 NCAA National Semifinals. In all but one season under Rose, there has been at least one
AVCA All-American on his team. The program is one of only two
DI universities to appear in every NCAA tournament (1981–2015). They have won 8 NCAA
National Championships, the 2nd most all-time, in 1999, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, and 2024. They were the national runners-up in 1993, 1997, and 1998 and also reached the Final Four in 1994 and 2012. The team achieved unprecedented success from 2007–10. The Nittany Lions won four consecutive national titles in that span, the most consecutive titles in NCAA Division I history. In that historic stretch, Penn State won 109 consecutive matches (Sept. 21, 2007-Sept. 10, 2010), 111 consecutive sets (Dec. 15, 2007-Dec. 18, 2008), 94 consecutive home matches (Sept. 1, 2006-Dec. 11, 2010), and 55 consecutive road matches (Sept. 28, 2007-Sept. 10, 2010), all NCAA Division I records. The Lions were extraordinarily successful when Penn State was in the Atlantic 10 conference, as they won the title all 8 years without losing a single conference match before joining the Big Ten. In the Big Ten, the team has won 16 titles since 1991, including a conference record 8 straight (2003–10). During Big Ten play, Penn State went undefeated 6 times (1998, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009).
Wrestling wrestlers in 1949 Penn State has one of the most competitive Division I
collegiate wrestling programs in the nation. Before joining the Big Ten, Penn State was a member of the
Eastern Wrestling League from 1976 to 1992. Before that, Penn State was a member of the
Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA). In April 2005, Penn State broke ground on a construction project designed to expand and modernize
Rec Hall for the students, faculty, and staff who use the facility. As part of this renovation, Intercollegiate Athletics created the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex which ranks among the nation's finest facilities in the sport. Under head coach
Cael Sanderson, Penn State entered the final session of the 2019 NCAA Championships having already clinched their eighth team title in nine years. Sanderson's squad left the National Finals and
PPG Paints Arena with three individual national champions. Penn State had five NCAA finalists for the fourth straight year and won three titles, beginning at 285 with senior
Anthony Cassar of
Rocky Hill, New Jersey winning his first.
Jason Nolf of
Yatesboro, Pennsylvania and
Bo Nickal of
Allen, Texas each won their third straight crowns. The Nittany Lions won the team race with 137.5 points, finishing over 40.0 points ahead of second place
Ohio State, which had 96.5.
Oklahoma State finished third with 84.0. Penn State was the only team to score over 100.0 points. Penn State has won 13 NCAA Championships including 12 of the last 14. The Nittany Lions have taken home the title in 1953, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025. Penn State holds the top two highest NCAA Championship points records breaking Iowa's 170-point mark with 172.5 in 2024 and 177 in 2025. ==Team sports==