T H E M O N T H I N . . .
To James Franklin's way of thinking, he was lucky. Fortunate, in fact, that he had
Ricky Rahne on his sta> when o>ensive coordinator Joe Moorhead le@ for Mis-
sissippi State in late November. It took Franklin all of two days and a short walk
down the second-=oor Lasch Building hallway to promote Rahne from tight
ends coach to o>ensive coordinator. It was, however, a promotion nearly a dozen
years in the making. Moorhead came and went in 718 days, and le@ behind a
sterling blue(-and-white)print of o>ensive success. In his stead, Franklin had a
loyal aide to run what had been Moor or less one of the most exciting and prolienses in college football over the past two years. Luck, they say, is the residue
of design. MIKE POORMAN STATECOLLEGE.COM
Franklin isn't looking for a Moorhead clone. Don't try to be Joe, he told Rahne
after promoting him. Rahne will bring his own style, but he also witnessed
firsthand how the offense spiked under Moorhead: 31 or more points in 18 of
the past 20 games, including 11 games with more than 40 points; 85 plays of 20
yards or longer last season, including 15 of 40 yards or longer; eight players
accounting for multiple touchdowns last season. "We've got a pretty good
foundation," Franklin said. A philosophical or psychological overhaul is not
needed. ADAM RITTENBERG ESPN.COM
What might have been and what's yet to come were on a lot of minds in Madi-
son Square Garden. But in the end, it was a celebration of what was. That the
Penn State Nittany Lions ripped through the field of the National Invitation
Tournament put a few truths on display: That this would have been a very
competitive NCAA tournament team even without all its assets available. That
there is certainly no better team that was not invited to the Big Dance. And
that this is without question the most talented Penn State team ever assem-
bled. And in an 82-66 thrashing of Pac-12 third-place finisher Utah, the Nit-
tany Lions left no question they were the dominant force in the NIT's last
dance. DAVID JONES PENNLIVE.COM
As Bo Nickal clinched Penn State's seventh national title in eight years, it be-
came abundantly clear that this dynasty isn't going anywhere. The Nittany
Lions will be the overwhelming favorites heading into next season as they try to
win their fourth championship in a row. ... Barring injuries, the 157-285-pound
weight classes are set. Graduating Zain Retherford and his 93.5 career points at
the NCAA tournament will of course be di?cult, but PSU is set up very well for
the future. FLOWRESTLING.ORG
Bo Nickal is different. JESSE LUKETA
Linebacker maybe?? BRENT
PRY
I'm in! Played a little linebacker in high school, ha ha. BO NICKAL
T W E E T S
O P I N I O N S
ADMINISTRATION
Barbour named to list
of top women in sports
Penn State athletic director Sandy
Barbour has been recognized as one of
the nation's premier sports executives
with her inclusion in the Forbes compi-
lation of the Most Powerful Women in
Sports in the U.S.
The leader of the Nittany Lions' 31-
sport program, Barbour is No. 13 in
Forbes' listing of the Top 30 Most Pow-
erful Women in Sports. She is one of
four women listed who work primarily
in intercollegiate athletics. Barbour is
the only athletic director listed, ranking
No. 2 overall among women who work
full-time in college sports.
Forbes said that Barbour "has devel-
oped a reputation for being one of the
most forward thinking administrators in
all of college sports."
Condoleezza Rice, Serena Williams,
Val Ackerman, Billie Jean King, Jeanie
Buss, Becky Hammon, Lesa France
Kennedy, Jessica Mendoza and Joni
Comstock are among the women who
joined Barbour on the list.
In December 2015, Forbes named Bar-
bour to its Top 25 Most Powerful People
in College Sports. Barbour, who was
ranked No. 24, joined Big East Commis-
sioner Val Ackerman as the female ex-
ecutives who were recognized by
Forbes.
Barbour recently was selected as a fi-
nalist for the Sports Business Journal's
Athletic Director of the Year honor for
2017-18. Last year, she was named by
the National Association of Collegiate
Directors of Athletics as one of four
FBS recipients of the prestigious Under
Armour AD of the Year Award. She
earned the NACDA honor for the sec-
ond time.
Barbour directs one of the nation's
most comprehensive and successful
athletic programs, one that boasts an
NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 90
percent and that has won 78 national
championships and 107 Big Ten titles
all-time.
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