And the hits just keep on coming.
In a press release, the Big Ten announced late Monday morning that they have slapped Penn State University with penalties in addition to the ones handed down by the NCAA earlier today. As expected, the Big Ten confirmed that the Nittany Lions will be ineligible to play in the conference’s title game for the next four years, although the punitive measures levied by the NCAA in the form of scholarship reductions and no restrictions on transfers for any current player or incoming freshman pretty much guaranteed this wouldn’t have been an issue anyway.
The NCAA had previously announced a four-year bowl ban as part of its far-reaching sanctions.
Penn State athletics was also fined $60 million by the NCAA, with those monies to be used to create an endowment that will help the victims of child sex abuse. In the same vein, the Big Ten announced that school will “be ineligible to receive its share of Big Ten Conference bowl revenues over those same four years.”
According to the conference, that represents a total of roughly $13 million, which the league will donate “to established charitable organizations in Big Ten communities dedicated to the protection of children.”
In its public censure of the university, the Big Ten lambasted the leadership at the university, writing that “our colleagues... have egregiously failed on many levels—morally, ethically and potentially criminally.” The censure went on to state that Penn State has “failed their great university, their faculty and staff, their students and alumni, their community and state—and they have failed their fellow member institutions in the Big Ten Conference. For these failures, committed at the highest level of the institution, we hereby condemn this conduct and officially censure Penn State.”
Additionally, the release reads, "[t]he Big Ten Conference will be a party to the Athletic Integrity Agreement referenced in the NCAA release, and will work closely with the NCAA and Penn State to ensure complete compliance with its provisions over the 5 year term of the Agreement.”
While very publicly decrying the actions -- or inaction, as the case may be -- of past leadership at the school, the Big Ten also very firmly stated it will continue to support the university as it works its way through what portends to be a significant period of reform.
“Penn State University is a great institution and has been a valued member of the Big Ten Conference for more than 20 years. Since early November 2011, it has been working very hard to right a terrible wrong. There is more to be done. The intent of the sanctions imposed today is not to destroy a great university, but rather to seek justice and constructively assist a member institution with its efforts to reform. From this day forward, as Penn State continues to make amends, the Big Ten conference and its member institutions will continue to engage with them in every aspect of conference membership.”