| Penn State Nittany Lions | |
|---|---|
 | |
| University | Pennsylvania State University |
| Conference | Big Ten (primary) Atlantic Hockey America (women's ice hockey) EIVA (men's volleyball) |
| NCAA | Division I (FBS) |
| Athletic director | Patrick Kraft |
| Location | State College, Pennsylvania |
| Varsity teams | 31 |
| Football stadium | Beaver Stadium |
| Basketball arena | Bryce Jordan Center |
| Ice hockey arena | Pegula Ice Arena |
| Baseball stadium | Medlar Field at Lubrano Park |
| Softball stadium | Nittany Lion Softball Park |
| Soccer stadium | Jeffrey Field |
| Aquatics center | McCoy Natatorium |
| Lacrosse stadium | Panzer Stadium |
| Other venues | Holuba Hall Lorenzo Wrestling Complex Louis and Mildred Lasch Football Building Multi-Sport Facility & Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track Penn State Field Hockey Complex Penn State Golf Courses Rec Hall Sarni Tennis Center |
| Mascot | Nittany Lion |
| Nickname | Nittany Lions and Lady Lions |
| Fight song | Fight On, State |
| Colors | Blue and white[1] |
| Website | www |
 | |
The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white.[2] The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The intercollegiate athletics logo was commissioned in 1983.[3]
For most sports, Penn State participates as a member institution of the Big Ten Conference and NCAA Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the highest level of collegiate level play. It is one of only 15 universities in the nation that plays Division I FBS football and Division I men's ice hockey. Two sports, men's volleyball and women's ice hockey, participate in different conferences because they are not offered in the Big Ten Conference. The men's volleyball team competes in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) and women's ice hockey competes in Atlantic Hockey America (AHA). The fencing teams operate as independents.
Penn State has finished in the top 25 in every NACDA Directors' Cup final poll, a feat only matched by nine other institutions: Stanford, UCLA, USC, Florida, Ohio State, Texas, North Carolina, and Michigan.[4] The NACDA Director's Cup is a list compiled by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics that charts institutions' overall success in college sports. Penn State's highest finish came in the 1998–99 standings when the Nittany Lions finished 3rd.[5] PSU finished in 5th place in the 2013–14 standings; it was the fifth time the program finished in the top 5 and the tenth time the program finished in the top 10.[6]
Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1991, after being a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference from 1976–79 and 1982-91.
- ^ "Design Essentials". Brand.PSU.edu. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
- ^ "Traditions". Penn State Nittany Lions. Archived from the original on March 13, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ "Intercollegiate Athletics Logo". The Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
- ^ "Directors Cup". Nacda Official Athletic Site. Archived from the original on January 2, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
- ^ "1998-99 Div. I Sears Directors' Cup Final Standings" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 17, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
- ^ "Penn State finishes No. 5 in Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings". Penn State University Website. Penn State University. July 9, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2015.