Blue White Illustrated

T H E M O N T H I N . . . Rose and Sanderson have developed programs and philosophies that work, indi- vidual frameworks that are unique in their singular sphere given their national scope. Not just on an occasional basis, but those that are self-sustaining and perpetuating as well. It doesn't hurt, either, that their Rec Hall of fame is in a non-descript, nearly-hidden wing of the oldest athletic building on campus. There, they are in the far northwestern corner of campus, tens of thousands of steps away from the daily machinations of the overall business and busyness of intercollegiate athletics. That's not to say they and their programs toil in anonymity. Far from the truth, actually. They are two of the most popular teams and coaches on campus, in addition to being the most successful. But being tucked away in their hall does allow Rose and Sanderson to be far from some of the maddening crowds. That helps with their focus, as well as their autonomy. That may be their greatest strength: In their neighborhood, the No. 1 thing is be- ing – and staying – No. 1. MIKE POORMAN STATECOLLEGE.COM If you're looking for reasons Sanderson is such a great coach, it might be because of his ability to still wrestle. "I wrestle every day," he said. "I'm not the same. I wish I could go back to my prime and beat on them just for fun, but it is a great way to teach. As a staff, we all wrestle as much as we can. I try to help them elimi- nate mistakes. Wrestling comes back to fundamentals, and a lot of kids come out of high school making a lot of mistakes. The best way to eliminate them is to wrestle them myself." In other words, the Penn State kids get to wrestle the Babe Ruth of their sport on a daily basis. The result has been the emergence of a wrestling dynasty at State College. BOB BROOKOVER PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Hackenberg and Franklin will be joined at the hip over the weeks, months and years to come. If Hackenberg fails in the NFL, many will say that will vindicate Franklin and his staff. It will prove that Hackenberg, not Franklin, was the prob- lem. If Hackenberg thrives in the NFL, many others will say that is clear evi- dence that Franklin has no idea how to handle an NFL-style QB. No matter what happens, however, it will be a compelling story to follow — just like any great soap opera. STEVE HEISER YORK DISPATCH N O T E W O R T H Y O P I N I O N S PSU 6TH IN CUP STANDINGS Pow- ered by the wrestling team's fifth NCAA championship in the past six years, Penn State has moved up to No. 6 in the Learfield Directors' Cup standings. The Nittany Lions are five points out of fifth place in the rankings that were released March 28. In the first winter sports compilation, Penn State climbed from No. 10 to No. 6, having earned its ninth consecutive top- 10 fall finish. PSU and Stanford are the nation's only institutions to place in the top 10 in the final fall Directors' Cup standings in each of the past nine years. Penn State was No. 8 in the final 2014- 15 Directors' Cup standings, earning its third consecutive top-10 finish and 11th overall. The Nittany Lions are among only nine programs nationwide to have finished in the top 25 in all 22 Directors' Cup final standings. Stanford leads the Directors' Cup and is followed by Michigan (541.25 points), Minnesota (532), Ohio State (522.5), Vir- ginia (465.25) and Penn State (461). North Carolina, Oregon, USC and Washington round out the top 10. The Directors' Cup standings will be updated in April. 79 WIN ACADEMIC LAURELS For the fourth consecutive year, a record num- ber of Penn State student-athletes have earned winter Academic All-Big Ten ac- colades, with 79 honorees this year among eight sports. The previous school record was 70, set last year. Two of Penn State's 79 honorees have perfect 4.0 grade point averages: men's gymnast Noah Roberson (engineering) and wrestler Devon Van Cura (science). Penn State led the conference in Aca- demic All-Big Ten winter honorees in women's swimming and diving (23) and men's hockey (16), as well as the 2016 NCAA wrestling championship team (14, tied with Ohio State). Penn State leads all conference institu- tions with 5,436 Academic All-Big Ten honorees since 1991-92, its first year of competition in some Big Ten sports. ■

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