The sit rep on what the Nittany Lions face:
- A $60 million dollar fine (to be paid over 5 years at $12 million per year), going to an endowment for programs preventing child sexual abuse and/or assisting the victims of child sexual abuse (the one bit of punishment that actually does tangible good in the interim).
- A four-year post season ban.
- A cap of 15 new scholarships per year for the next four years with a total scholarship limit of 65, 20 less than the norm of 85.
- Five years probation.
- All players may transfer and play immediately at other schools (the NCAA is even considering suspending the scholarship limit of 85 for any school that takes Penn State transfers).
- The vacation of all wins from 1998-2011, meaning not only is Joe Paterno no longer the NCAA's all-time wins leader, but Penn State isn't even Top 10 all-time in wins.
Penn State's also signed a consent agreement to the penalties meaning no appeal is possible (which they've done so in an effort to be good members of the Association) .
As far as the penalties themselves go, the scholarship limit alone is the most damning, and in many ways makes taking a year off (a la the SMU "Death Penalty") almost preferable.
With hollow gestures mostly the currency du jour, effectively this morning we've been reduced to this:
The Big Ten will announce their own self aggrandizing contributions to the mix at 11 eastern. Either way, it's going to be a long hard road for those in Happy Valley. Good luck.