Center For Medieval Studies (Pennsylvania State University) - Athletics

Athletics

Penn State's mascot is the Nittany Lion, a representation of a type of mountain lion that once roamed what is now University Park. The school's official colors, now blue and white, were originally black and dark pink. 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: men's volleyball in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA); men's lacrosse in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA); women's lacrosse in American Lacrosse conference; and hockey (American Collegiate Hockey Association). The fencing teams operate as independents.

Athletic teams at Penn State have won 68 national collegiate team championships (37 NCAA, 2 consensus Division I football titles, 6 AIAW, 3 USWLA, 1 WIBC, and 4 national titles in boxing, 11 in men's soccer and one in wrestling in years prior to NCAA sponsorship). There have been another 54 national collegiate championships, by either individuals or club teams. The 40 NCAA Championships ranks seventh all time in NCAA Division I, and is the most of any Big Ten school. Recent championships won include Women's Rugby (2007, 2009, 2010 as a club member of Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union (MARFU)), Men's Gymnastics (2007), Men's/Women's Fencing (2007, 2009, 2010), Men's Volleyball (2008), Women's Volleyball (2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010), and Wrestling in 2010 won their respective national titles. Since the 2007 season the university has won 10 National Championships in 5 different sports, the most among current Division 1-A teams.

Since joining the Big Ten in 1991, Penn State teams have won 60 regular season conference titles and 13 tournament titles, including fourteen consecutive titles in women's soccer (longest streak in women's Big Ten athletic history), and eighth straight in women's volleyball (the longest streak in Big Ten volleyball history).

Penn State has one of the most successful overall athletic programs in the country, as evidenced by its rankings in the NACDA Director's Cup, a list compiled by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics that charts institutions' overall success in college sports. From the Cup's inception in the 1993–1994 season through the 2007–2008 season, the Nittany Lions have finished in the top 10 eight times and the top five four times, and have finished in the top 25 every year. Since the 2007 season, Penn State has won ten National Championships in 5 different sports, the most among current Division 1-A teams.

In 1999, Sporting News named Penn State as the country's best overall athletic program, citing its consistent and wide-ranging athletic successes along with its athletes' long-standing tradition of excelling in the classroom. Penn State placed 6th in Sports Illustrated's top 25 rankings for athletic success for the 2007–08 academic year, the highest of any Big Ten school.

Penn State student-athletes receive academic honors that often far exceed those awarded to other Division 1-A schools. In the 2007–08 academic year, a school record 261 Penn State Student-Athletes earned Academic All-Big Ten honors. Penn State leads the Big Ten with 3,069 selections.

Despite widespread success in the overall athletic program, however, the school is best known for its football team, which draws a very large following. Penn State's Beaver Stadium has the second largest seating capacity of any stadium in the nation, with an official capacity of 106,572 slightly behind Michigan Stadium with an official capacity of 109,901. For decades, the football team was led by coach Joe Paterno who, in 2011, was fired in his 45th year as head coach as a result of the Penn State sex abuse scandal. Paterno was in a close competition with Bobby Bowden, the head coach for Florida State, for the most wins ever in Division I-A (now the FBS) history. This competition effectively ended with Paterno still leading following Bowden's retirement after the 2010 Gator Bowl. In 2007, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Paterno died on January 22, 2012, at the age of 85.

On July 23, 2012, the National Collegiate Athletic Association announced a series of sanctions against Penn State and the Nittany Lions football team for the role of their leadership in the Penn State sex abuse scandal. The sanctions include a fine of $60 million (to be paid into an endowment for programs aimed at preventing child sex abuse), a four-year postseason ban (including the Big Ten conference championship game), loss of 20 scholarships per year over a four-year period, a limit on incoming recruiting classes to 15 scholarships (instead of 25) for the next four years, and the vacating all Penn State victories from 1998 through 2011. The team was also placed on probation for five years.

In 2009, Cael Sanderson became the head coach of Penn State's wrestling team.

The university opened a new Penn State All-Sports Museum in February 2002. This two-level 10,000-square-foot (1,000 m2) museum is located inside Beaver Stadium. In addition to the school funded athletics, club sports also play a major role in the University, with over 68 club sport organizations meeting regularly to date. Many club teams compete nationally in their respective sports. The Penn State Ski Team, which competes as part of the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) in the Allegheny Conference, as well as the Penn State Swim Club, which competes in the American Swimming Association – University League (ASAU), are just a few examples. Some other clubs include baseball, squash, karate, crew, and sailing.

Penn State's most well known athletic cheer is "We are...Penn State." Typically, the students and cheerleaders shout, "We are," followed by a response of "Penn State" from the rest of the fans. This is typically done three or four times, and followed by "Thank you..." "... you're welcome!" when completed. The cheer is by no means restricted to sporting events, as prospective students touring the campus (with the aid of either the Lion Scouts or Lion Ambassadors) will hear plenty of these chants from current students.