Few athletic programs in the country can boast the versatility and overall success of Penn State. Even some of the ones who have better resumes when you account for every varsity sport, the visibility of some of Penn State’s best sports on the biggest stage has given them a sterling reputation.

But with certain sports having histories that date back over a century, you’ll eventually get some down seasons. Whether it’s because of injuries, a coaching change, or an off year after key contributors graduate, it’s impossible to stay on top forever. So what do those darkest days look like for Penn State? Here’s the worst season in almost every varsity sport in both modern and program history.

Football

1931 (2-8): Bob Higgins had a great, long tenure with the Nittany Lions from 1930-48, but, like many coaches with long tenures, it started pretty rough. After Penn State stagnated as just a decent program late in the days of Hugo Bezdek, they coincidentally experienced their worst-ever football during the nation’s worst-ever financial collapse.

The offense was relatively mute all season, only scoring in double digits in their two wins over Lebanon Valley and Lehigh. The average game saw them losing by double figures to a regional rival, losing by 35 to Pitt, 25 to Colgate at home, 33 to Lafayette, and 19 to West Virginia in Morgantown. Though, to be completely fair, all of these opponents were among the best teams in the country.

2003 (3-9, 1-7 Big Ten): Want to see what the 2025 season would’ve looked like if Terry Smith didn’t right the ship? 2003 didn’t quite have the same expectations, but Joe Paterno’s worst-ever team opened the season ranked and off a 9-4 season, only to completely crumble after a season-opening win against Temple.

While they’d go on to beat Kent State 32-10 in late September, the Nittany Lions lost eight of their next nine after winning the season opener. The painful part about this season? They were extremely competitive in a lot of games, including losing three games against ranked opponents by one score. They battled No. 8 Ohio State tooth and nail at Beaver Stadium in November, but lost 21-20.

Their only conference win was beating down on a hapless Indiana, one of two teams to finish worse than Penn State in the conference, 52-7. The next season would be equally rough, but it paid off with a strong 2005 team that was a close Big House loss away from competing for a national championship.

Men’s Basketball

1983-84 (5-22, 3-15 Atlantic 10): Penn State hoops doesn’t have the most storied history, but rarely have they looked truly hapless like they did in 1983-84. In the first season under Bruce Parkhill, the Nittany Lions stumbled out of the gate, only ever getting in a groove when they won three straight at home in mid-January to improve to 5-6 and 3-2 in the conference.

They then didn’t win a game for the rest of the season. 16 straight defeats still stands as a program record, and it included a 31-point beatdown at the hands of Navy. They were almost able to pull off a huge home upset over No. 18 Temple in early March, but the Owls survived in what was, somehow, one of their biggest scares in a perfect conference slate.

2004-05 (7-23, 1-15 Big Ten): Ed DeChellis was hired in 2003 from East Tennessee State to try to rebuild a struggling program, and it eventually led to an NIT championship in 2009 and an NCAA Tournament berth in 2011. His first two seasons, though, were particularly rough.

Against a soft non-conference slate, the Nittany Lions started 5-2, but got buried in Big Ten play, only beating Northwestern by three at home in late January. They lost nine games by at least 20 points, including a 20-point blowout defeat to South Carolina State of the MEAC in non-conference play.

Women’s Basketball

2014-15 (6-24, 3-15 Big Ten): If you have a minute, look at the year-by-year of Coquese Washington’s tenure at Penn State. It may be the most volatile tenure at any school ever. Just one year after going 24-8, winning the Big Ten, and making the Sweet Sixteen, the Lady Lions lost their four top scorers, and nobody was able to step up to prevent a steep drop-off.

The offense went from averaging 75.1 points a night to just 62.9, a steep decline that saw them struggling to put the ball in the basket enough to be competitive. In two of their ranked matchups, they failed to even get to 40 points. Still, they showed enough grit to get one signature win in late January against a 14-4 Northwestern team that finished the season ranked.

Men’s Hockey

2013-14 (8-26-2, 3-16-1 Big Ten): Despite being a relative newcomer to college hockey, it only took a few years for Guy Gadowsky to establish Penn State as a team that could not only compete in Division I but thrive. Still, the first couple of years were rough, especially in the first year of the new Big Ten Conference.

Even before the team’s Big Ten debut on December 6, they were just 3-7-1 after consecutive sweeps by UMass Lowell and Union (NY). They lost their first nine conference games before shutting out No. 10 Michigan in early February in the first top-10 win in program history. They were competitive in many of their games this year, but didn’t have the scoring yet in their second year since transitioning from the club level.

Women’s Hockey

2013-14 (4-29-1, 1-18-1 CHA): Just before they take the ice in their first-ever Frozen Four, we look back at the humble beginnings of the women’s hockey program. They were once the punching bags of a conference they’ve dominated for the last four years.

They lost by at least six goals four times, were shut out 11 times, and managed just one conference win against a similarly destitute Lindenwood team. After a rough season in which they were outscored 130-49 in 34 games, they were above .500 the next year and eventually climbed the ladder to become the standard in the AHA under Jeff Kampersal.

Wrestling

1978-79 (2-11, zero placed at NCAAs): Cael Sanderson’s dominance at Penn State for the last decade and a half might make it feel unfathomable that they were ever this bad, but they failed to score a single point at the NCAA Championships as recently as 1979. They started the season 0-11, with the worst loss coming to Bloomsburg, 41-2, and only qualified one wrestler to the national tournament, true freshman John Hanrahan.

2001-02 (6-12, 35th at NCAAs): After joining the Big Ten, there was some rocky sailing before Sanderson took over in 2009. Those 32-6 scores that Sanderson’s teams have made popular over the last few seasons were done to this team twice. While they sent seven wrestlers to the NCAA Championships, only one of them gained All-American status, Doc Vecchio, who placed eighth.

Men’s Soccer

1968 (0-6-3): The first year of the Herb Schmidt era didn’t go well, as the men’s soccer team suffered the only winless season in program history in 1968. While they were able to score goals, they allowed at least five goals on three different occasions and only managed a trio of draws against the likes of George Washington, Temple, and Pittsburgh, with the latter two coming to close the season after an 0-6-1 start. Schmidt would eventually lead the Nittany Lions to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments, winning at least one game in all four seasons.

2017 (5-10-3, 2-6 Big Ten): The worst year in modern times was the opposite of 1968, as this year they struggled to score. They were shut out in seven of their 18 matches, including a pair of heartbreaking 1-0 defeats to No. 1 Indiana in the regular season and the Big Ten Tournament. They also lost by the same margin against No. 6 Michigan State.

Women’s Soccer

2025 (10-8-3, 5-4-2): Penn State women’s soccer has been so dominant throughout its 32-year history that the worst season they’ve ever had was an above .500 campaign that ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. They’ve won a game in the tournament every year since a first-round exit in Year One in 1994, but they had a significantly better regular season. Even in the so-called worst season in program history, they knocked off No. 23 Saint Louis and fought No. 1 Virginia to two separate one-goal defeats.

Baseball

1993 (15-28, 5-23 Big Ten): There aren’t many truly bad seasons in the history of the baseball program, but their second season in the Big Ten was a rough one. A strong non-conference slate that included a wild 28-13 win over Chicago State didn’t translate, as a 7-3 start resulted in an 8-25 finish. They were shut out eight times in Big Ten play, but finished with a plus-39 run differential because of a soft non-conference slate.

2018 (15-34, 3-21 Big Ten): It’s been just eight years since what was likely the worst season in program history for Penn State, and it featured some pretty gnarly losses. They lost 18-4 to St. John’s, 17-2 to Minnesota, 19-8 to Ohio State, 19-5 and 14-2 to Michigan, and 11-1 to Xavier. Despite a 3-21 conference record, they managed a series victory against Michigan State in early May.

Softball

1994 (10-40, 6-22 Big Ten): Sue Rankin oversaw Penn State’s transition from the Atlantic 10 to the Big Ten in the mid-1990s, but eventually lost her job after the Nittany Lions failed to compete in the first few seasons. This season was particularly rough offensively, as they were shut out 13 times.

2021 (7-34): The 2026 softball team figures to be one of the best ones in program history, but it was only five years ago that, stuck playing only Big Ten games due to COVID-19, the Nittany Lions struggled badly. They lost eight games due to run-rule, including a 17-0 loss in five innings to Indiana. It wasn’t all bad, though. They went 3-1 with a 10-3 win over Rutgers and found their way to a ranked win against Minnesota during the challenging season.

Men’s Lacrosse

1960 (1-9): While they’ve gone winless before, this is the worst season where they played at least 10 games. It opened with an 8-2 win over Loyola (MD) on April 2, but the season quickly tanked after that. In the season-ending nine-game losing streak, the Nittany Lions were outscored 107-35.

2022 (3-11, 1-4 Big Ten): Penn State has enjoyed a lot of winning under head coach Jeff Tambroni, but between some Final Four appearances, they endured a brutal 2022 campaign, crushed under the weight of a challenging schedule. While they managed to knock off No. 5 Yale midseason, they endured brutal one-goal losses to two other top-10 teams and went a brutal 1-6 in matches decided by two or less goals.

Women’s Lacrosse

2008 (5-12, 0-4 ALC): There haven’t been many down seasons for the women’s lacrosse team, but they particularly struggled in 2008. Still, they weren’t a pushover. They lost by one goal against No. 1 Northwestern, No. 3 Maryland, and No. 4 Princeton, but were never able to finish off a big upset. They weren’t even all that bad, with two of their five wins coming by 15 goals.

Women’s Volleyball

1976 (6-11-3): The first season in Penn State women’s volleyball history, they struggled. Back then, most matches only went to two sets, which allowed for the three ties. How’d they respond to this season? They haven’t finished below .500 since, making every single NCAA Tournament since the inaugural edition in 1981. What’s been their worst season since? It might’ve been 2025, where they struggled to adapt after numerous senior and transfer departures and finished 19-13 before going down in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.