Blue White Illustrated

FALL SPORTS Lions rank seventh in Directors' Cup Penn State is o: to another strong start in the Lear9eld Directors' Cup standings. The Nittany Lions 9nished seventh in the 9nal fall 2019 standings, thanks in large part to the four teams that participated in their respective NCAA championships and the football team's victory over Memphis in the Cotton Bowl. The Lions earned their 13th consecu- tive top-10 fall 9nish. They have now placed in the top 10 in the 9nal fall standings in 23 of the 27 years of the Di- rectors' Cup. PSU and Stanford are the nation's only institutions to place in the top 10 in the 9nal fall Directors' Cup standings in each of the past 13 years. Stanford (594.5) leads the Directors' Cup and is followed by Michigan (421.0), Washington (362.0), Wiscon- sin (345.0), BYU (338.0), Virginia (326.0), Penn State (312.0), Louisville (302.0), Notre Dame (296.5) and North Carolina (235.0). During the fall semester, the Penn State women's soccer team captured its seventh Big Ten tournament title and advanced to the NCAA quarter9nals, falling to eventual champ Stanford. The men's and women's cross country, men's soccer and women's volleyball teams all competed in their respective NCAA championships, with the vol- leyball squad advancing to the NCAA tournament regional 9nal, where it lost to eventual national champion Stan- ford. The football team 9nished in the top 12 of the 9nal College Football Playo: rankings for the fourth consec- utive season and earned a third New Year's Six bowl berth in four years. Five PSU fall teams were ranked in their respective top-25 polls nationally (9nal regular season or 9nal ranking): women's volleyball (seventh), football (ninth), women's soccer (13th), men's soccer (18th), women's cross country (18th) and 9eld hockey (22nd). ■ MEN'S BASKETBALL 18-5, 8-4 OCTOBER 27 W DELAWARE (Exh.)........................................75-49 NOVEMBER 5 W MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE.......................84-46 9 W WAGNER.................................................... 91-64 14 W at Georgetown............................................81-66 19 W BUCKNELL................................................. 98-70 23 W YALE.......................................................... 58-56 27-29 NIT Season Tip-off at Brooklyn, N.Y. 27 L Mississippi......................................... 74-72 29 W Syracuse............................................ 85-64 DECEMBER 4 W WAKE FOREST (Big Ten/ACC Challenge)........76-54 7 L at Ohio State............................................106-74 10 W MARYLAND................................................ 76-69 14 W ALABAMA................................................... 73-71 20 W CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE....................87-58 29 W CORNELL................................................... 90-59 JANUARY 4 W Iowa at Philadelphia (The Palestra)...............89-86 7 L at Rutgers..................................................72-61 11 L WISCONSIN................................................58-49 15 L at Minnesota..............................................75-69 18 W OHIO STATE................................................90-76 22 W at Michigan................................................ 72-63 29 W INDIANA.....................................................64-49 FEBRUARY 1 W at Nebraska............................................... 76-64 4 W at Michigan State....................................... 75-70 8 W MINNESOTA............................................... 83-77 11 at Purdue 15 NORTHWESTERN.........................................Noon (BTN) 18 ILLINOIS...............................................6:30 p.m. (FS1) 23 at Indiana................................................... Noon (FS1) 26 RUTGERS................................................. 7 p.m. (BTN) 29 at Iowa...................................................... Noon (BTN) MARCH 3 MICHIGAN STATE......................... 7 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2) 7 at Northwestern........................................4 p.m. (BTN) 11-15 Big Ten tournament at Indianapolis..........................TBA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL 7-17, 1-12 NOVEMBER 1 W KUTZTOWN (Exh.)....................................... 64-44 5 W at Towson.................................................. 73-67 10 L RIDER........................................................78-70 13 W FORDHAM.................................................. 72-59 17 L LA SALLE................................................... 69-67 21 W CLEMSON.................................................. 68-55 24 L GEORGE MASON........................................ 78-68 29-30 at Cal Classic 29 L Long Beach State................................64-56 30 W North Carolina Central.........................92-68 SCORECARD T H E M A I N E V E N T WRESTLING BIG TEN TOURNAMENT M A R C H 7 - 8 | P I S C A T A W A Y , N . J . | R U T G E R S A T H L E T I C C E N T E R | B T N Rutgers' wrestling program is having a moment. Coming o: a 2019 season in which they crowned two national champions, the Scarlet Knights were 8-5 in dual meet competition as of early February and were ranked 25th in the NWCA poll. Now they're getting set to play host to the Big Ten's main event. The conference tourna- ment is coming to Piscataway, providing Rutgers with another opportunity to show- case its growth. Given the abundance of high school wrestling talent in New Jersey, that'll be a major perk for the home team. But the Knights will have their hands full on the mat, with 9ve Big Ten teams ranked in the NWCA top 10 as of this writing. Among those teams was Penn State at No. 2. The Nittany Lions were responsible for the worst of Rutgers' dual meet losses, a 38-6 shellacking at Rec Hall in January. But the conference tourney is the start of a whole new season. Sessions I, II and III of the tournament can be streamed at btnplus.com beginning at 10 a.m. March 7. Session IV – the championship 9nals – will air on BTN beginning at 3 p.m. March 8. –M.H.

• Cover