Hi there, sports fans! If you have a countdown till the days you can don your blue wig, grab your tickets and head to State College for a game- don't worry, you're not alone! The Sporting News has ranked State College, Pennsylvania in the top 99 Best Sports Cities for 2006.

Need more evidence that Penn State sports and fans that bleed blue and white rule? Probably not, but research from The Sporting News is too good to miss. State College has been named to The Sporting News' 99 Best Sports Cities list for 2006.
According to the list, State College is rated the best college town in the Big Ten Conference, is ranked 56 overall and is seventh among cities that do not have a professional sports franchise. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were the only other towns in Pennsylvania to make the list and only six other college towns were ahead of State College.
Penn State has one of the nation's most comprehensive and successful athletic programs, offering 29 varsity sports, 15 men's and 14 women's. The Nittany Lions set a school record during the 2005-06 academic year by achieving six Big Ten Championships. During the 2005 fall season, a Big Ten-record five teams won conference titles, compiling an incredible 49-1 record during regular season Big Ten competition. All five teams finished in their respective Top 10 national rankings.
Also during 2005-06, Penn State hosted three NCAA Championship events that drew fans to State College from across the nation. In 2006-07, Penn State and State College will host several PIAA, Big Ten and NCAA championship events, including the Big Ten Women's Soccer Tournament (Nov. 3-5), the PIAA Boys and Girls Basketball Championships (March 23-24) and the NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships (April 12-14).
Penn State's athletic facilities are among the nation's finest. They include the 107,282-seat Beaver Stadium, the Bryce Jordan Center, the recently renovated Rec Hall and Jeffrey Field, the world-class Multi-Sport Indoor Track and Field Complex, the Sarni Tennis Center and McCoy Natatorium.
In June, the magnificent Medlar Field at Lubrano Park opened to rave reviews. The facility is the home to the Nittany Lion baseball team and the State College Spikes, a Class A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. The ballpark represents a unique partnership between Penn State, which owns the ballpark, and Curve Baseball LP, the owners of the Spikes and Altoona Curve, who operate the ballpark.