Sixteen members of the Penn State football team have earned their degrees entering the 2014-15 bowl season.
That ranks in the top 10 percent among all Football Bowl Subdivision institutions according to a news release from the university.
Senior Adrian Amos was among those who graduated, bringing the total to 10 out of 13 with senior eligibility who have earned their degrees prior to the Nittany Lions’ bowl game this upcoming weekend.
Six out of the 16 football players who have graduated got their degree a year early. Nittany Lion juniors who graduated on Saturday include Deion Barnes, Kyle Carter, Ben Kline, Angelo Mangiro, Donovan Smith and Matt Zanellato.
As it turns out, Penn State is the only team in the Big Ten Conference and the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the nation with 16 graduates among the 128 FBS programs entering bowl season, according to research by the University of Alabama Athletic Communications office.
The New Era Pinstripe Bowl also will feature the teams ranked in the Top 25 of the NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate that are playing each other in one of the 38 bowl games to conclude the 2014 season.
Penn State’s 87 percent graduation figure was second-highest in the Big Ten Conference and tied with Middle Tennessee State for No. 13 overall among the nation’s 128 FBS institutions.
The 87 percent figure was up two points from the 2013 NCAA report and tied for the football program’s second-highest graduation rate (with 2011). Boston College is tied with Duke for No. 7 nationally with a 92 percent graduation rate.
The Nittany Lions and Boston College finally play this weekend in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 27. The teams last met in 2004. The game will kickoff at 4:30 p.m. ET in Yankee Stadium and air on ESPN.
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