Penn State joins elite list of schools to win 100 national championships

When Penn State wrestling clinched the program’s 13th NCAA Championship in Philadelphia a few weeks ago, it was a milestone not just for Cael Sanderson, but for the athletic department as a whole. With the victory, Penn State athletics became only the fourth school in the country to win 100 national championships across a wide array of former, current, and emerging college sports.

Penn State athletics joins an elite list of champions

Penn State athletics now joins the company of Stanford (155), UCLA (144), and USC (136) as the only schools in the country to claim 100 or more national titles. The achievement demonstrates the university’s commitment to providing athletic opportunities across multiple sports, not just those that generate revenue.

The Nittany Lions currently have 31 varsity-level sports, comparable to other large universities. Penn State is now fourth on the list of all-time national championships.

Schools with the most national championships

1. Stanford – 155
2. UCLA – 144
3. USC – 136
4. Penn State – 100
5. Yale – 88
6. Cornell – 80
7. Ohio State – 75
8. Navy – 74
9. Princeton – 70
10. Texas – 67

NCAA Championships

The 2025 Penn State wrestling team. © Chris Eutsler / Basic Blues Nation, 2025.

Penn State has won 56 NCAA titles in its history, the fifth most in the country. The only teams ahead of the Nittany Lions are Stanford (135), UCLA (124), USC (114), and Texas (59).

Penn State wrestling officially tied the fencing program with 13 titles this year, the highest among all Nittany Lion athletics. The Nittany Lions have dominated fencing since the sport was made co-ed about three decades ago, winning 13 titles between 1990 and 2014.

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Other dominant programs that have racked up the NCAA titles include men’s gymnastics (12) and women’s volleyball (eight). Katie Schumacher Cawley led the women’s volleyball team to its first national title since 2014 in December.

In the school’s history, Penn State has won 31 men’s NCAA Championships, 12 women’s NCAA Championships, and 13 co-ed NCAA Championships.

Football National Championships

Longtime Penn State Nittany football coach Joe Paterno. © Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Penn State football currently claims two national championships: 1982 and 1986. In both seasons, the Nittany Lions finished No. 1 in the Associated Press and Coaches Poll.

While there have been other years when the football program has finished at the top of some polls, the university does not recognize them as national titles. The most notable “unclaimed” season is 1994, when Penn State finished a perfect 12-0, including a 38-20 win over Oregon in the Rose Bowl, but was ranked No. 2 in the final AP and Coaches Polls behind Nebraska.

AIAW/Other Penn State National Championships

The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was the first real opportunity for women’s college sports teams to win national titles. The organization, which was the predecessor of the NCAA, awarded national championships for basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, softball, swimming, track and field, and volleyball from 1972 to 1981. Penn State athletics won six national championships during this decade.

There was also a period in which the NCAA or AIAW sponsored a combined 27 sports but had championships organized by other governing bodies. Generally, the team titles in this list include women’s equestrian, gold medal/Wingate lacrosse, pre-NCAA golf, pre-NCAA swimming, Intercollegiate Soccer Football Association (ISFA) soccer, and women’s rugby.

Penn State’s 36 other recognized titles include four boxing (1924, 1927, 1929, 1930); four men’s cross country (1926–28, 1930); men’s gymnastics (1944); seven men’s soccer (1926, 1929, 1933, 1949, 1950, 1954, 1955); two men’s indoor track (1942, 1959); wrestling (1921); women’s bowling (1979); three women’s lacrosse (1978–80); women’s rifle (1947); 12 women’s rugby (1997, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2009–10, 2012–17).

National titles are a gray area

Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft (left), university president Neeli Bendapudi (middle), wrestling coach Cael Sanderson (right). © Chris Eutsler / Basic Blues Nation, 2025.

Penn State athletics officially claims 84 team national championships. Football is the most well-known for the discrepancy on what should/should not be counted before the BCS was introduced in 1998. Some schools, such as Alabama, claim national titles in years where the program only finished No. 1 in one of the major polls. Penn State football has always been more reserved in claiming titles, so the school does not recognize championships in 1911, 1912, or 1994, despite finishing No. 1 in multiple polls in those seasons.

The most complicated sport for Penn State is men’s soccer. The ISFA was the formal governing body of the sport from 1905 to 1958. The Nittany Lions claim 11 national championships during that time. However, titles from 1936 to 1940 are typically not honored because there was no official champion selection from the ISFA. Instead, the body published a list of outstanding teams that claim a share of the title. The Nittany Lions tied San Francisco in the ISFA’s first soccer bowl in 1950. Although counted as a title for some, Penn State athletics formally does not recognize it.

Penn State athletics does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon under Pat Kraft’s leadership. Football is fresh off a College Football Playoff Semifinal appearance. Women’s volleyball and wrestling have already brought home national titles this season. Men’s ice hockey competes in the Frozen Four on Thursday night, and men’s lacrosse is once again ranked inside the top ten with the potential to make an NCAA Tournament run.

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