The 1986 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University as an independent during the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 21st-year head coach Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions compiled a record of 12–0. Penn State defeated the Miami Hurricanes, 14–10, in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl to win Paterno's second consensus national championship. The team was named national champion by AP, Billingsley, FB News, FW, Matthews, NCF, NFF, Sporting News, UPI, and USA/CNN, while named co-champion by FACT, Sagarin (ELO-Chess).

Schedule

Rankings

AP Poll

UPI Poll

Game summaries

Temple

Boston College

East Carolina

Rutgers

Cincinnati

Syracuse

#2 Alabama

West Virginia

Maryland

Notre Dame

Pittsburgh

#1 Miami (FL) (Sunkist Fiesta Bowl)

Roster

<!-- The following list of names contains several links requiring disambiguation; contains duplicates; and is incorrectly formatted. Please correct these errors before re-instating in the article: Not on the bowl program roster but listed on the '86 Media Guide roster -->

Awards

NFL Draft

Thirteen Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1987 NFL draft.

Media

Radio