Is 2016/2017 the best Penn State Sport year ever?

[nittany dave]

This is a post to brighten up a Monday. The question is, is the 2016/2017 the best Penn State sports year ever?

Lets review:

1. Big Ten Championships in football, women's track, and hockey
2. Excellent seasons again for women's soccer and volleyball
3. Another National Championship for wrestling, with our guys going 5 for 5 in the finals
4. Football establishing itself as a National Championship contender, once again
5. Guy Gadowsky, in 5 years in D1, taking hockey to first NCAA tournament, and winning a game.

Often we use this forum to complain, which is natural. Today is a day to feel really proud about our school, and remember how lucky we are.

WE ARE PENN STATE!

 

[PSUoh90]

This is a post to brighten up a Monday. The question is, is the 2016/2017 the best Penn State sports year ever?

Lets review:

1. Big Ten Championships in football, women's track, and hockey
2. Excellent seasons again for women's soccer and volleyball
3. Another National Championship for wrestling, with our guys going 5 for 5 in the finals
4. Football establishing itself as a National Championship contender, once again
5. Guy Gadowsky, in 5 years in D1, taking hockey to first NCAA tournament, and winning a game.

Often we use this forum to complain, which is natural. Today is a day to feel really proud about our school, and remember how lucky we are.

WE ARE PENN STATE!

Men's and Women's LAX both in the top 10 at the moment too. Men are 10-0, ranked 3rd nationally. #1 Rutgers was just upset by Delaware though. So, we could move up a spot to #2.

I don't follow Men's Gymnastics, but, they were on BTN over the weekend and I think I heard they are ranked #5 or 6.

 

[PennStateNate]

Didn't we win a Wrestling and WVOB Championship in the same year once? Hard to beat a year when you get two NCAA Titles, I think Lacrosse won a title that year also.

 

[Bob78]

Men's and Women's LAX both in the top 10 at the moment too. Men are 10-0, ranked 3rd nationally. #1 Rutgers was just upset by Delaware though. So, we could move up a spot to #2.

I don't follow Men's Gymnastics, but, they were on BTN over the weekend and I think I heard they are ranked #5 or 6.

It is right up there, certainly. I've been following some PSU sports since the 60s, and all since being a student in the 70s, and it is hard to think of a more 'accomplished' school year in athletics.

Even with those not at the top.... Women's basketball showed improvement, and softball is showing improvement. Baseball is still struggling. T&F is competitive, at least the indoor season was pretty solid. Of the 32 (?) varsity sports, I find it amazing how well we do up and down the slate. Even the women's rugby team - a "Team" sport (a step above 'Club', a step below 'varsity') has been dominant for years.

With a very good overall collection of coaches, we are in good shape to keep this going for a while. Improved facilities will help in years to come, also, as will the right comp and approach when we need to replace any of the head coaches. Plus, we're doing well academically across the board as well. Success With Honor lives on.

Someone a couple weeks ago mentioned that the three men's "helmet" sports - football, hockey, and Lax, all have a chance to win the B1G in their sports. 2 down, 1 big challenge to go!
Makes it even more fun to be even a casual fan of all PSU athletics.

 

[kgilbert78]

There was a few years ago--forget whether it was 05 or 08--where the team won all of the Big Ten titles in fall sports. All of them. That was a good year.

 

[jerseylion109]

think it was 08. This year has been awesome. Wish our admin cared about mens b-ball. That is the one high profile sport that is severely lacking. Need someone to focus their time and energy on improvements.

 

[Jerademan74]

This is a post to brighten up a Monday. The question is, is the 2016/2017 the best Penn State sports year ever?

Lets review:

1. Big Ten Championships in football, women's track, and hockey
2. Excellent seasons again for women's soccer and volleyball
3. Another National Championship for wrestling, with our guys going 5 for 5 in the finals
4. Football establishing itself as a National Championship contender, once again
5. Guy Gadowsky, in 5 years in D1, taking hockey to first NCAA tournament, and winning a game.

Often we use this forum to complain, which is natural. Today is a day to feel really proud about our school, and remember how lucky we are.

WE ARE PENN STATE!

....and 6, our men's Lacrosse team is on a National Championship type year so far!

 

[Jerademan74]

It is right up there, certainly. I've been following some PSU sports since the 60s, and all since being a student in the 70s, and it is hard to think of a more 'accomplished' school year in athletics.

Even with those not at the top.... Women's basketball showed improvement, and softball is showing improvement. Baseball is still struggling. T&F is competitive, at least the indoor season was pretty solid. Of the 32 (?) varsity sports, I find it amazing how well we do up and down the slate. Even the women's rugby team - a "Team" sport (a step above 'Club', a step below 'varsity') has been dominant for years.

With a very good overall collection of coaches, we are in good shape to keep this going for a while. Improved facilities will help in years to come, also, as will the right comp and approach when we need to replace any of the head coaches. Plus, we're doing well academically across the board as well. Success With Honor lives on.

Someone a couple weeks ago mentioned that the three men's "helmet" sports - football, hockey, and Lax, all have a chance to win the B1G in their sports. 2 down, 1 big challenge to go!
Makes it even more fun to be even a casual fan of all PSU athletics.

Good analysis, but where are we in Men's Basketball? Scratching our heads yet another year with hope that next year is our year. I've been scratching so long that I am almost completely bald!

 

[Cpeplion]

It is right up there, certainly. I've been following some PSU sports since the 60s, and all since being a student in the 70s, and it is hard to think of a more 'accomplished' school year in athletics.

Even with those not at the top.... Women's basketball showed improvement, and softball is showing improvement. Baseball is still struggling. T&F is competitive, at least the indoor season was pretty solid. Of the 32 (?) varsity sports, I find it amazing how well we do up and down the slate. Even the women's rugby team - a "Team" sport (a step above 'Club', a step below 'varsity') has been dominant for years.

Makes it even more fun to be even a casual fan of all PSU athletics.

Baseball is always going to be a struggle....Northern teams just can't compete regularly with teams south of the Mason Dixon Line and to the west where there is better weather. You'll have a year like last year when a few BIG teams make it into Regionals and Super Regionals but it's never going to be consistent for one team from the North to be dominant like a UVA , Miami, FSU, UNC, or South Carolina....ain't gonna ever happen.......not saying Pennsylvania doesn't have the talent to make it happen....but most of that talent leaves the state....no one wants to play baseball in the freaking snow in March when they could be playing near the beach at Coastal Carolina or in Florida.

 

[PSUoh90]

Looks like we took 7th in Fencing over the weekend.

 

[PSUoh90]

Baseball is always going to be a struggle....Northern teams just can't compete regularly with teams south of the Mason Dixon Line and to the west where there is better weather. You'll have a year like last year when a few BIG teams make it into Regionals and Super Regionals but it's never going to be consistent for one team from the North to be dominant like a UVA , Miami, FSU, UNC, or South Carolina....ain't gonna ever happen.

You're absolutely correct. I think most would just like to see them more competitive within the Big 10. Haven't had a winning record within the conference since 2011-12 and went 0-2 at the Conference Championship. I thought the new stadium would do the program a lot of good, but, this hasn't seemed to be the case.

 

[kgilbert78]

Looks like we took 7th in Fencing over the weekend.

Since the coaching change, fencing has fallen off the map for PSU.

 

[Bob78]

Good analysis, but where are we in Men's Basketball? Scratching our heads yet another year with hope that next year is our year. I've been scratching so long that I am almost completely bald!

men's bball is a fave of mine. We are what our record says we are to a large degree. South Carolina is an example of why non-traditional bball schools can have hope, but I'm not sure that's an apt comparison for us, as I don't know details of their recruiting and academic approaches.

I also have hope each year, and I also have very little hair on top of my head. Coincidence? I don't think so.

 

[Bob78]

Baseball is always going to be a struggle....Northern teams just can't compete regularly with teams south of the Mason Dixon Line and to the west where there is better weather. You'll have a year like last year when a few BIG teams make it into Regionals and Super Regionals but it's never going to be consistent for one team from the North to be dominant like a UVA , Miami, FSU, UNC, or South Carolina....ain't gonna ever happen.......not saying Pennsylvania doesn't have the talent to make it happen....but most of that talent leaves the state....no one wants to play baseball in the freaking snow in March when they could be playing near the beach at Coastal Carolina or in Florida.

Baseball is a real struggle in the north, no doubt. Cooper had some success with a small, midwestern school, though, so a degree of success can be had.
But while I'm not expecting us to be a contender for the national championship in most years, imo we should get to where we are consistently be in the top four or five of the B1G and earn some playoff berths at least once or twice every 4 seasons.
They have a nice travel slate through the south and west in the early season which helps, but doesn't replace the consistently good baseball weather.
Dominating PA and NJ in baseball recruiting would help, and we need some good outside-of-the-region players, too.

 

[Cpeplion]

Since they screwed over the previous coach, fencing has fallen off the map for PSU.

fixed that up for ya

 

[PSUoh90]

fixed that up for ya

What happened?

 

[Cpeplion]

Baseball is a real struggle in the north, no doubt. Cooper had some success with a small, midwestern school, though, so a degree of success can be had.
But while I'm not expecting us to be a contender for the national championship in most years, imo we should get to where we are consistently be in the top four or five of the B1G and earn some playoff berths at least once or twice every 4 seasons.
They have a nice travel slate through the south and west in the early season which helps, but doesn't replace the consistently good baseball weather.
Dominating PA and NJ in baseball recruitiVang would help, and we need some good outside-of-the-region players, too.

They have a boatload of talent just in the Centre Couty region and can't keep them around...Todd Leathers a few years ago chose to go to Winthrop before getting drafted...The Center Fielder for Va Tech was from State College...before getting drafted...There is soo much Pa Talent that PSU loses it isn't funny...Heck, there is a Baseball Academy in State College that pumps out kids that go to Nebraska, Duke, William and Mary, Va Tech, East Carolina....but no where is PSU on those kids

 

[Bob78]

They have a boatload of talent just in the Centre Couty region and can't keep them around...Todd Leathers a few years ago chose to go to Winthrop before getting drafted...The Center Fielder for Va Tech was from State College...before getting drafted...There is soo much Pa Talent that PSU loses it isn't funny...Heck, there is a Baseball Academy in State College that pumps out kids that go to Nebraska, Duke, William and Mary, Va Tech, East Carolina....but no where is PSU on those kids

I wasn't aware of all that.... thanks.
Any ideas as to why we can't keep the local kids and why the Academy isn't helping much? Has to be more than just weather if Nebraska or other B1G schools are options.

Buddy of mine had a son who played at Penn. Was All-Ivy at least one of his seasons. Graduated, and chose to play his 5th year at Duke, where he made the All ACC Tournament team.
I asked my buddy why he didn't go to PSU where it would be easier for his parents to continue to see him play. Thought his chances for getting drafted were better coming out of an ACC school. But still, they had to make some big trips to continue to watch him as opposed to making the much quicker trip to PSU and nearby away games.

 

[Cpeplion]

I wasn't aware of all that.... thanks.
Any ideas as to why we can't keep the local kids and why the Academy isn't helping much? Has to be more than just weather if Nebraska or other B1G schools are options.

Buddy of mine had a son who played at Penn. Was All-Ivy at least one of his seasons. Graduated, and chose to play his 5th year at Duke, where he made the All ACC Tournament team.
I asked my buddy why he didn't go to PSU where it would be easier for his parents to continue to see him play. Thought his chances for getting drafted were better coming out of an ACC school. But still, they had to make some big trips to continue to watch him as opposed to making the much quicker trip to PSU and nearby away games.

I think it actually has a lot to do with weather, tradition, and the biggest is competition. Like your buddy said, getting drafted is the goal. If you play vs. the best you get the most exposure to scouts. I live in Va, so even at a school like Liberty...a few years ago they had 6 of their starting 9 get drafted and that didn't include the pitchers. When has a BIG team done that? Or even any team North of Maryland? If you go to a team like UVA, or UNC, or South Carolina, or Miami and crack the starting 8 you're probably getting drafted. Even kids from schools like Tusculum College (TN) have more kids getting drafted than kids from PSU.

 

[Cpeplion]

What happened?

They fired him for some redic reason..I can't remember what it was now but it was controversial at the time.

 

[kgilbert78]

They fired him for some redic reason..I can't remember what it was now but it was controversial at the time.

He did have the added disadvantage of not being well liked* in the fencing community....

*One of my best friends is former assistant fencing coach at tOSU and another old roomie fenced for them.

 

[Cpeplion]

He did have the added disadvantage of not being well liked* in the fencing community....

*One of my best friends is former assistant fencing coach at tOSU and another old roomie fenced for them.

I taught at a school in State College and he would come in and teach fencing as an after school thing. He always came off as a decent guy....but how you are in public is not always who you are so...