Penn State Defeats Wisconsin

Penn State head coach James Franklin holds the Big Ten Conference Football Championship trophy at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind. on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. Penn State defeated Wisconsin 38-31.

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Penn State football isn’t the only Nittany Lions squad to have aspirations of a national championship this fall.

With a large quantity of talent returning for another run this season, women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and men’s hockey all have high hopes of winning the last game of their individual seasons and hoisting a championship trophy into the air.

Women’s soccer returns goalkeeper Rose Chandler, midfielder Emily Ogle and defenders Ellie Jean, Maddie Elliston and Kaleigh Riehl, all of whom redshirted last season in order to play with the United States U20 Women’s National Team.

RELATED: Saquon Barkley refuses to be defined by football

The Nittany Lions also bring back members of last season’s squad that captured the programs 19th Big Ten title and 23rd-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. These include: stalwart defenders Elizabeth Ball and Brittany Basinger, goalkeeper Amanda Dennis and the standout forward duo of Megan Schafer and Frannie Crouse.

Not to mention, they have one of the great coaches in all of college soccer, Erica Dambach, back to patrol the touchline for an 11th-straight season.

Dambach has a great collection of talent, blending youth and experience, and this roster is arguably more talented than the 2015 team that won the programs first national championship.

Women’s volleyball will be national title contenders once again, as has become the expectation under Russ Rose.

The Nittany Lions had an up and down 2016-17 campaign, which saw them lose in the regional round of the NCAA Tournament to Nebraska in five sets, but return a wealth of experience, led by the senior trio of Ali Frantti, Haleigh Washington and Simone Lee.

If Penn State can overcome the inconsistency that plagued them the past two seasons, it’s a safe bet to say the Nittany Lions can claim their eighth national championship.

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Ricky DeRosa (21) hands the Big Ten Championship trophy to head coach Guy Gadowsky after defeating No. 17 Wisconsin 2-1 in double overtime at Joe Louis Arena on Saturday, March 18, 2017. It is the program's first Big Ten Title.

Men’s hockey, fresh off their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, looks as though it’s ready to take another step further in its development and qualify for the Frozen Four.

RELATED: Making the case for a Penn State men's hockey national championship next season

Guy Gadowsky keeps accumulating talent to Hockey Valley and the payoff probably came sooner than most expected. A season ago the Nittany Lions were a win away from making the Frozen Four, a week after capturing their first Big Ten Tournament title in double overtime against Wisconsin.

Godowsky’s team is going to score goals at a high rate, masking the defensive problems the team may encounter with the loss of Vince Pedrie.

Led by 22 and 19 goals, respectively from Andrew Sturtz and Denis Smirnov, the Nittany Lions scored 160 goals a season ago (4.1 goals/game). Also back are Nate Sucese (17 goals) and Chase Berger (13 goals) and Nikita Pavylchev (6 goals), while incoming freshman forward Evan Barratt was drafted in the third round of the 2017 NHL Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks.

Barratt gives Gadowsky yet another weapon in attack, after he registered 56 points in 63 games for the United States U18 National Team.

Penn State might not have an elite defense, but the Nittany Lions’ offensive firepower puts them in position to win the programs first national championship.

Speaking of offensive firepower, that brings me to Penn State football.

Just a few seasons after the program was levied with NCAA sanctions in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky Scandal — sanctions that were subsequently lifted during the 2014 season — James Franklin has helped put the program in a great position to win its first championship crown since the 1986 season.

The Nittany Lions’ first season under the guidance of offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead was a resounding success, as Penn State averaged 37.6 points per game, running back Saquon Barkley was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and quarterback Trace McSorley had a stellar first season under center.

The pair now enters the 2017-18 season as legitimate Heisman favorites. The rest of the offense isn’t a liability either. Despite the loss of Chris Godwin to the NFL, McSorley has a stable of players to throw to, including tight end Mike Gesicki and receiver DaeSean Hamilton. The offensive line is its strongest since the first season under then-head coach Bill O’Brien.

The defense has to find reliable edge rushers with the loss of Garrett Sickels and Evan Schwan, but will be solid enough to get the job done with the potency of the offense.

If the unit can hold opposing offenses to somewhere around the 25 points per game of last year, that will be enough to make a run at another Big Ten title and a College Football Playoff berth.

The schedule is more difficult than a year ago — away trips to Northwestern, Iowa and Ohio State are particularly tricky — but with the vast amount of returning talent that gained experience from the Rose Bowl run last season, Penn State can complete its comeback story by lifting the national championship trophy in Atlanta.

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