Reddit's Top 131 Programs: PSU at #12

[africamurphy]

Top 131 of last 40 years

Not sure if this was already posted...pretty cool list. And the stories inside are interesting to recall.

My takeaways...
1. Twelve seems fair considering the dark years were 10% of this stretch. Right behind USC, ahead of LSU and Notre Dame. I'm surprised to see Clemson above USC and us, but I guess their two nattys to our 1 in that stretch gave them a statistical boost.
2. Franklin has had 3 of our top 9 seasons in his decade at PSU. Sure, he hasn't had a playoff appearance or championship (while our rivals UM and OSU have had numerous of one or the other)...and maybe that's why we're harder on him than Joe. But it's interesting to see 2017 and 2019 comes in ahead of 2008, 1991, and 1985...some super nostalgic seasons for me. Another little stat...5 of Franklin's 10 seasons were in the top 20, which put him statistically on par with JoePa as well (Joe had 75% of the top 20 seasons in 70% of the years coached over the past 40). Another way to say it: Franklin is JoePa 2.0. (Once he wins a natty, it'll be easier for our fan base to stomach this reality...)
3. It's nice to see Reddit acknowledge our 1994 team as #1. I honestly don't mind being #2 in 1986...because we were #1 in the real polls.

 

[PSUQBKeeper]

Top 131 of last 40 years

Not sure if this was already posted...pretty cool list. And the stories inside are interesting to recall.

My takeaways...
1. Twelve seems fair considering the dark years were 10% of this stretch. Right behind USC, ahead of LSU and Notre Dame. I'm surprised to see Clemson above USC and us, but I guess their two nattys to our 1 in that stretch gave them a statistical boost.
2. Franklin has had 3 of our top 9 seasons in his decade at PSU. Sure, he hasn't had a playoff appearance or championship (while our rivals UM and OSU have had numerous of one or the other)...and maybe that's why we're harder on him than Joe. But it's interesting to see 2017 and 2019 comes in ahead of 2008, 1991, and 1985...some super nostalgic seasons for me. Another little stat...5 of Franklin's 10 seasons were in the top 20, which put him statistically on par with JoePa as well (Joe had 75% of the top 20 seasons in 70% of the years coached over the past 40). Another way to say it: Franklin is JoePa 2.0. (Once he wins a natty, it'll be easier for our fan base to stomach this reality...)
3. It's nice to see Reddit acknowledge our 1994 team as #1. I honestly don't mind being #2 in 1986...because we were #1 in the real polls.

unfortunate for Penn State that it used the last 40 years and skipped our 82 national championship season

 

[summitlion1]

unfortunate for Penn State that it used the last 40 years and skipped our 82 national championship season

Good point. How would we be ranked in the last 50 years? Top 10 at least.

 

[HailToPitt725]

I’ve been following that series on Reddit, it’s pretty interesting. They noted this in the post, but in retrospective, I think it’s incredibly impressive how good PSU was during their first several years in the Big Ten. Pretty much no one else has come close to matching that in the modern realignment era (maybe Miami or Virginia Tech coming over to the ACC?). Wonder why that’s the case.