Nittany news and notes: Small student section vs. SMU, Team USA award, and more

Penn State students reportedly did not request their full allotment of tickets for the Nittany Lion’s first-round College Football Playoff matchup at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, December 21 with a noon ET kickoff against SMU. There is plenty of excitement surrounding the program and its first-ever CFP berth as the No. 4 overall team and No. 6 seed in the 12-team bracket, but there were about 5,000 additional tickets, typically reserved for students, on sale to the public on Tuesday. 

Reportedly, all Penn State students who requested tickets by the Friday, November 29 deadline, received their tickets for the game. The College Football Playoff works closely with the teams hosting in the first round of the CFP for the first-ever on-campus playoff games in college football history, and tickets were allotted for the usual 21,000-seat student section size. 

Penn State receives Team USA Collegiate Impact Award

One of the biggest stars of Team USA in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games was former Penn State gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik with his bronze medal win on the pommel horse, but he wasn’t the only Nittany Lions competing at The Games. Women’s soccer stars Alyssa Naeher and Sam Coffey won the gold with Team USA women’s soccer and in total 12 US medalists were former Penn State athletes. 

With that level of contribution to Team USA, Penn State received the 2024 Team USA Collegiate Impact Award - Olympics Silver Award from the United States Olympics and Paralympics Committee. Stanford University was awarded the gold award while Texas and Kentucky received bronze. 

More: Penn State wrestling dual meet moved to the Bryce Jordan Center

Penn State wrestling is off to a predictably hot start to its season with wins over Drexel and Lehigh in November, but that’s not the reason that its third match of the season, a home dual meet against Wyoming on Sunday, December 15, is being moved to the Bryce Jordan Center. 

Instead, it’s because Rec Hall will be in use over the weekend with Penn State women’s volleyball hosting the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The Nittany Lions grabbed a No. 1 seed in the tourney and will face Marquette on Friday night for a spot in the Regional Final against either Creighton or Texas on Sunday night.