Penn State to the Alamo Bowl

From the Alamo Bowl's Web site:

11/30/2007, San Antonio, TX –The Pennsylvania State University (8-4) has accepted an invitation today to play in the 2007 Valero Alamo Bowl on Saturday, December 29 at 7:00 p.m. CST in San Antonio’s 65,000-seat Alamodome.

“San Antonio football fans should be excited to see Penn State back in the Valero Alamo Bowl,” said John Yantis, Valero Alamo Bowl Chairman. “Penn State is one of the nation’s most tradition-rich programs and this selection continues a streak of the biggest names from the Big Ten after hosting Ohio State, Michigan and Iowa the previous three years.”

Penn State will be making its second appearance in the Alamo Bowl with their first coming in the 1999 SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl against Texas A&M in front of a standing room only crowd of 65,380 which ranks second in all-time Alamo Bowl attendance.

“We are looking forward to playing in the Alamo Bowl and meeting a very good team from the Big 12 Conference,” said Penn State Head Coach Joe Paterno, who is in his 42nd season as head coach and has an overall mark of 371-125-3 (74.6). “This team has worked hard all season and has been a great group to work with. I’m happy for the squad that their efforts will be rewarded with an opportunity to go to San Antonio, where we had a great experience the last time, and be involved in a good, tough game.”

This year’s game will be the 15th installment of the Valero Alamo Bowl and the inaugural game with new title sponsor Valero. Since 1995, the game has matched the Big Ten and the Big 12 Conferences. This combination has produced eight of the Top 20 most-watched games in ESPN bowl history and has averaged a 4.5 rating.

The last two Alamo Bowl games (Michigan vs. Nebraska and Texas vs. Iowa, respectively) currently rank as the #1 and #2 most-watched games in ESPN bowl game history and trail only the BCS and Capital One Bowl ratings overall.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming the Nittany Lions to San Antonio and the Valero Alamo Bowl,” said Mike Ciskowski, Valero Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “In our first game as title sponsor, we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to host Penn State under the leadership of Hall of Fame Coach Joe Paterno that will help us continue the Valero Alamo Bowl’s growing track record of capacity crowds and top ESPN ratings.”

“We're delighted to have the opportunity to return to the Valero Alamo Bowl,” said Tim Curley, Penn State Director of Athletics. “Everyone from Penn State had a wonderful experience during our previous trip to San Antonio. The hospitality extended to our team and fans was outstanding. This will provide a chance for some of our alumni in the Southwest to see our team play in person. The Valero Alamo Bowl has been a great partner with the Big Ten and all the Conference schools and we’re excited about returning to San Antonio.”

Ticket prices for the 2007 Valero Alamo Bowl are $32-$67 and can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at (210) 224-9600 or visiting www.ticketmaster.com. Fans can also purchase tickets at the Alamodome Southwest Box Office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

The Valero Alamo Bowl will announce Penn State’s Big 12 opponent (either Texas Tech or Texas A&M) on December 2 at 5:00 p.m. CST as part of the Fleming’s Steakhouse Team Announcement Party. The press conference will be held in conjunction with the party at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar in the Quarry Market at 255 E. Basse Road.

To download the Valero Alamo Bowl logo, request a credential or view a tentative media schedule, please visit the Media Center section of the bowl’s website. For more information, please call Rick Hill at (210) 704-6388 or Lara Smedley at (210) 704-6389.

About Valero--Valero Energy Corporation is a Fortune 500 company based in San Antonio, with approximately 21,000 employees and 2006 annual revenues of more than $90 billion. The company owns and operates 17 refineries throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.1 million barrels per day, making it the largest refiner in North America. Valero is also one of the nation’s largest retail operators with approximately 5,800 retail and branded wholesale outlets in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean under various brand names including Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Ultramar, and Beacon. Please visit www.valero.com for more information.

ESPN’s Top 5 Most-Watched Bowl Games are as follows (rating—household impressions):
1. 12/30/2006 ALAMO BOWL TEXAS vs. IOWA (6.0—5,521,220)
2. 12/28/2005 ALAMO BOWL NEBRASKA vs. MICHIGAN (5.4—4,875,543)
3. 12/30/2005 PEACH BOWL LSU VS. MIAMI (5.2—4,706,275)
4. 12/30/1998 HOLIDAY BOWL NEBRASKA vs. ARIZONA (6.0—4,556,937)
5. 12/29/2005 HOLIDAY BOWL OREGON vs. OKLAHOMA (5.1--4,555,583)

The Valero Alamo Bowl boasts the #3 highest attendance among the 21 ESPN bowl games. Listed below is the all-time list of Alamo Bowl attendances:

•65,875* Alamo Bowl, December 30, 2006 (Texas vs. Iowa)
•65,380 SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl, Dec. 28, 1999 (Penn State vs. Texas A&M)
•65,265 MasterCard Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 2004 (Ohio State vs. Oklahoma State)
•65,232 SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 2001 (Texas Tech vs. Iowa)
•64,597 Builders Square Alamo Bowl, Dec. 28, 1995 (Michigan vs. Texas A&M)
•62,016 MasterCard Alamo Bowl, Dec. 28, 2005 (Michigan vs. Nebraska)
•60,780 Builders Square Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 1998 (Kansas State vs. Purdue)
•60,028 SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl, Dec. 30, 2000 (Nebraska vs. Northwestern)
•56,229 MasterCard Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 2003 (Nebraska vs. Michigan State)
•55,677 Builders Square Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 1996 (Texas Tech vs. Iowa)
•55,552 Builders Square Alamo Bowl, Dec. 30, 1997 (Oklahoma State vs. Purdue)
•50,690 Alamo Bowl presented by MasterCard, Dec. 28, 2002 (Wisc. vs. Colorado)
•45,716 Builders Square Alamo Bowl, Dec. 31, 1993 (California vs. Iowa)
•44,106 Builders Square Alamo Bowl, Dec. 31, 1994 (Washington State vs. Baylor)
* The 2006 Alamo Bowl featured the largest sports crowd in Alamodome history.

Penn State Notes

Penn State in 2007: The Nittany Lions bring an 8-4 record into their 40th bowl game all-time. Three of the losses were by seven points or less. Penn State won 30 of its last 39 games overall and ranks among the Top 15 nationally in best cumulative record from 2005-07 (28-9).

Joe Paterno: The Valero Alamo Bowl will be Joe Paterno’s 500th as head coach of the Nittany Lions. In his 42nd season as head coach, Paterno owns a career record of 371-125-3 (74.6) and ranks second in victories among major college coaches and fourth among coaches across all NCAA divisions. He ranks fourth among active coaches in winning percentage (10 years or more).

Paterno is the all-time leader in bowl appearances (34th) and bowl victories (22-10-1 record). His 68.2 bowl winning percentage is third-best all-time among coaches with at least 12 bowl appearances.

Second Time Around: This will be Penn State and Joe Paterno’s second appearance in the bowl. The Nittany Lions are 1-0 in the bowl, defeating Texas A&M in the 1999 SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl 24-0.

Bowl Success: The Nittany Lions are No.3 in the nation with 25 post-season victories and first nationally in bowl winning percentage (66.7, 25-12-2) among schools with at least ten bowl wins.

Three Senior Starters: Penn State had just three senior starters for the last two games of the season: linebacker Dan Connor, tailback Rodney Kinlaw and quarterback Anthony Morelli. The Nittany Lions will return 21 starters for the 2008 campaign – nine on offense, ten starters on defense and both specialists.

Five Lions First Team All-Big Ten: Five Nittany Lions earned first team All-Big Ten honors, the second-highest total among all teams. A total of seven Penn State players earned all-conference recognition. Penn State’s five first team honorees were second only to Ohio State.

Senior All-America linebacker Dan Connor and junior cornerback Justin King were selected first team All-Big Ten after earning second team all-conference honors in 2006. Connor leads the league with 136 tackles and King leads the Big Ten with 17 passes defended.

Also garnering first team all-conference honors were freshman punter Jeremy Boone, sophomore defensive end Maurice Evans and junior center A.Q. Shipley. Junior linebacker Sean Lee and junior guard Rich Ohrnberger earned second team honors.