The Penn State program, originally banned from bowl participation, severe scholarship reductions, fines and other sanctions got a repreive from the NCAA because in the words of Northern Arizona president Rita Hartung Cheung who chaired the NCAA Executive Meeting yesterday, "Penn State's commitment to the integrity of its athletics department and its progress toward meeting the requirements of the Consent Decree are clear. "We thank Senator Mitchell for his meticulous and exhaustive work over the past two years. Mitchell's efforts and the dedication of Penn State officials made today's decisions possible."
South Carolina president Harris Pastides added, "Penn State has made remarkable progress over the past year. "The board members and I believe the Executive Committee's decision is the right one. It allows both the university and the association to continue to move toward a common goal of ensuring that educating, nurturing and protecting young people is a top priority."
Long story short, Penn State had their bowl eligibility restored for 2014 and their scholarships have been fully restored beginning in 2015. The job Bill O'Brien in his two years at Penn State and the current coach James Franklin have done remarkable jobs recruiting and fielding competitive teams despite the sanctions levied by the NCAA following the Jerry Sandusky scandal. In fact the lifting of the scholarship sanctions just enhances the ability of Franklin and his staff to add to what is already considered a top recruiting class.
I said at the time I thought Penn State wouldn't be the disaster everyone was predicting. O'Brien in his first year led the Nitnany Lions to an 8-4 record and the NCAA Coach of the Year honors in 2012 despite the loss of several players who were allowed to transfer because of the sanctions. The rest of the team stayed at Penn State and acquitted themselves in a very high fashion.
Penn State got the good news on the heels of the top 3 teams in the Big 10 losing this past weekend. Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State all lost while State upped their record on the season to 2-0 after beating Akron 21-3 last Saturday and UCF 26-24 the week before. Penn State is tied for the Big 10 East lead with Rutgers who is 2-0 as well. Good news for the Nittany Lions and IMO finally clear heads have prevailed.