What's interesting, if the new scoring inflated Penn State's total, is why it had no similar effect on the teams finishing 2nd or 3rd. Cornell, In 2nd place tonight, had 72.5. in 1997, when Iowa set the record, 2nd place Oklahoma State had 113.5.
OSU still had 7 all-Americans and two champions in 1997, they were also a great team. Iowa was just better come tourney time. This year had a bunch of team splitting up the points between 2-8 and nobody else standing out as a clear second. In 1997, the top ten teams scored 654 team points. This year the top ten teams scored 758.5. That's a lot of extra bonus points.