Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1525333
1 6 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 4 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 2 Number of Penn State football alums on NFL.com's list of the league's top 100 players heading into the 2024 season. Dallas Cowboys line- backer Micah Parsons is listed 17th overall, while Philadelphia Eagles run- ning back Saquon Barkley is 86th. Par- sons won All-Pro recognition in each of his first three NFL seasons, while Bark- ley is seeking a fresh start in Philly after six years with the New York Giants. 1 3 . 2 p e r c e n t Penn State's chance of winning the Big Ten championship, according to Austin Mock of The Athletic. Mock's projec- tions use an algorithm that takes into account returning production, recruit- ing rankings, transfers and other data. Ohio State leads Mock's Big Ten rank- ings with a 40 percent chance of win- ning the conference title, while Oregon checks in second with a 31.6 percent chance. 1 4 t h Penn State's place in Tom Fornelli's list of the Big Ten teams with the toughest schedules in 2024. The CBSSports.com colum- nist ranked PSU's upcoming slate as the fourth-easiest in the league, well behind his top five of UCLA, Purdue, USC, Wisconsin and Michigan. "I confidently say that James Franklin is happy to be out of the Big Ten East. While the Nittany Lions will play Ohio State again this year, Michigan isn't on the schedule, nor is Oregon," Fornelli wrote. "The noncon features a tough game at West Virginia to open the year, but two very winnable games against Bowling Green and Kent State. The toughest road game is either USC or Wisconsin, depending on how you feel about either. Aside from that Ohio State game, it's a home slate that will include multiple wins of two scores or more." 1 4 . 8 6 6 Stephen Nedo- roscik's pommel horse score in the men's gymnastics team final on July 29 at the Olympic Games in Paris. Nedoroscik, a 2020 PSU graduate, was the last performer for Team USA, and his effort helped the squad capture the bronze medal with a score of 257.793. It was the Americans' first medal in the team competition since 2008. 5 9 6 Number of Penn State stu- dent-athletes who earned a 3.0 or better grade-point average during the spring semester. It was a school record for the spring term, and PSU also set a spring record by plac- ing 296 student-athletes on the Dean's List with a 3.5 or better GPA. The women's gymnastics squad re- corded the highest GPA of any Penn State team during the spring, posting a 3.74. On the men's side, the tennis and ice hockey teams tied for the lead with 3.46 GPAs. 7,337 Average attendance of the Penn State wrestling team's seven home dual meets during the 2023-24 season. That figure ranked second behind Iowa, which averaged 14,847 fans for its six duals, all sellouts. The Nittany Lions are constrained by the size of Rec Hall, which holds only about 6,500 fans and has less than half the capacity of Iowa's Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Penn State held six of its seven duals at the venerable field house. Its other home dual meet took place at the Bryce Jordan Center, with 12,049 fans on hand to see PSU rout Rutgers, 35-3, on Feb. 12. By The Numbers PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL 5th Beaver Stadium's spot in ESPN's list of the top 25 stadi- ums in college football. The network asked 14 of its writers to rank their 20 favorites and tallied up the results. The Nittany Lions' home field earned 172 of a possible 280 points, finish- ing behind LSU's Tiger Stadium (247 points), the Rose Bowl (209), Michi- gan Stadium (182) and Notre Dame Stadium (175). "College football has brought mega- stadiums to less-populated areas, and arguably none stands out like Beaver Stadium, the nation's second-largest venue by capacity," writer Adam Rit- tenberg notes. "The stadium rises near Mount Nittany on the northern edge of State College, which has a popula- tion of around 41,000 but becomes the third-largest city in Pennsylvania for Penn State home games. The stadium's size and capacity (106,572) mirror Penn State's growth over time." Here are the top 10 in ESPN's poll: Rk. Venue (Year Built) School Points 1. Tiger Stadium (1924) LSU 247 2. Rose Bowl (1922) UCLA 209 3. Michigan Stadium (1927) Michigan 182 4. Notre Dame Stadium (1930) Notre Dame 175 5. Beaver Stadium (1960) Penn State 172 6. Husky Stadium (1920) Washington 151 7. Ohio Stadium (1922) Ohio State 149 8. Camp Randall Stadium (1917) Wisconsin 133 9. Bryant-Denny Stadium (1929) Alabama 115 10. Neyland Stadium (1921) Tennessee 112