Oct. 31, 2007
Big Ten Tournament Guide/Notes
Host Ohio State's Big Ten Tournament Page
University Park, Pa. - The ninth-ranked Penn State field hockey team will make the trip to Columbus, Ohio for the 2007 Big Ten Tournament this weekend. The Nittany Lions, who are the winningest program in Big Ten Tournament history, are the No. 4 seed in the tournament this year and will open play on Thursday at noon against No. 5 seed and host Ohio State.
Thursday's quarterfinal game will be a rematch of the regular season finale from last Friday that saw the Nittany Lions top the Buckeyes 1-0 on AstroTurf Field. That game clinched the No. 4 seed for the Nittany Lions. Penn State finished the regular season with a 12-6 overall record and a 3-3 mark in Big Ten play.
The Buckeyes will enter the tournament with a 6-11 overall record and a 2-4 mark in Big Ten play. This will mark the first time ever that Penn State has had to play the tournament host in the first round of the tournament and just the second time ever that the Nittany Lions will play the tournament host. The only other time they played the host was in the championship game of the 2000 tournament when they played Michigan.
This year will be the fourth time that the tournament has been held at Ohio State. The Buckeyes previously hosted the tournament in 1994, 1999 and 2002. The Nittany Lions are 1-3 in tournament games played in Columbus. Their only win came the last time it was there, in 2002. The Nittany Lions are also 1-1 against the Buckeyes all-time in the Big Ten Tournament, winning in 1996 but falling in 2004. This will also be the third time that Penn State has been the No. 4 seed at Big Ten's. The other times were 2003, when the host team Nittany Lions advanced all the way to the championship game, and 2004, when the Nittany Lions lost to the No. 5 seeded Buckeyes in the first round.
Penn State has an outstanding history at the Big Ten Tournament. The Nittany Lions' seven championship game appearances is tied for the most among all Big Ten teams with Michigan and Iowa and Penn State's four tournament championships are also tied for the most with Michigan. The Nittany Lions also have more Big Ten Tournament wins (16) than any other team and have the highest Big Ten Tournament winning percentage (.640) of any team.
If the Nittany Lions are able to get past the Buckeyes on Thursday for the second time in a week, they will advance to play top-seeded Michigan on Friday at noon. The championship game is Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Both semifinal games on Friday will be televised live on the Big Ten Network. Sunday's championship game will be televised on tape delay by CSTV, with the game airing on Tuesday, November 6 at 6:00 p.m.