The NCAA will announce “unprecedented” penalties against Penn State as a result of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal, according to a report by CBS News. The penalties will be announced at a news conference Monday at 9 a.m. ET.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” the source told CBS News correspondent Armen Keteyian.
The NCAA said they will levy “corrective and punitive” actions against the school. That likely means the penalties will be a substantial fine in the tens of millions of dollars and actions against the football program, such as a loss of scholarships, bowl ban, TV ban, etc.
CBS’ Dennis Dodd reported today that the penalties could last beyond one season and that Penn State could be “hit with significant penalties by the NCAA that could severely damage the football program’s ability to compete.”
Although there was early speculation that the “Death Penalty” could be applied in this situation, that no longer appears to be the case. SMU is the only school to ever receive the NCAA’s Death Penalty, which bans a school from competing in a sport for at least one year.
At the moment, it doesn’t appear that Penn State will be forced to forfeit any games on their 2012 football schedule. Since the season is only six weeks away, that might unfairly penalize the schools on their schedule. There simply wouldn’t be enough time for those schools to line up replacement games.
If the Nittany Lions are issued a bowl ban, they could also be barred from playing in the Big Ten Championship Game in 2012 and/or future seasons. Penn State would be the second team banned from the 2012 game, as Ohio State is already out of the game after being penalized for violations under former head coach Jim Tressel.
Here is a look at Penn State’s 2012 football schedule:
- 09/01 – Ohio
- 09/08 – at Virginia
- 09/15 – Navy
- 09/22 – Temple
- 09/29 – at Illinois
- 10/06 – Northwestern
- 10/20 – at Iowa
- 10/27 – Ohio State
- 11/03 – at Purdue
- 11/10 – at Nebraska
- 11/17 – Indiana
- 11/24 – Wisconsin
- 12/01 – Big Ten Championship Game
Update (7/23/11): The NCAA has announced sanctions against Penn State, which includes a four-year postseason ban.