College Football News: Penn State To Receive “Unprecedented Sanctions” Monday

Jan 24, 2012; State College, PA, USA; General view of Beaver Stadium as the lights illuminate the field to remember former Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Joe Paterno. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-US PRESSWIRE

Sunday served as yet another trying day for the Penn State community when first, the beloved statue of Joe Paterno was taken down, and then the NCAA announced that they would levy a punishment against the school’s football program on Monday. What once stood as an iconic tribute to the pillar of goodness and sanctity in college football has recently been cast in new light, now representing the man and the organization that looked the other way while horrific crimes against children took place.

The statue was removed just before dawn, and taken to a “secure” location.

But the worst is yet to come for the Nittany Lions just 24 hours later.

On Monday, Mark Emmert will announce penalties against Penn State, per an NCAA statement. This decision comes on the heels of the Freeh report, which exposed a rampant cover up by Penn State football and university officials of sex crimes against young boys. Emmert is personally sanctioning Penn State as opposed to going through the Committee of Infractions after receiving approval from the association’s Division I Board of directors, which is comprised of 22 college presidents and chancellors.

Now for USC fans, sanctions are a sore, familiar subject. Two years ago the Trojans got hammered with penalties that many analysts and fans felt were vindictive and unjustified based on the violations committed. In this situation, the NCAA has to make a decision based on actual crimes–not just broken rules–and apparently, it’s going to be lethal.

Per Yahoo! Sports, the NCAA plans to bring down “unprecedented” sanctions, consisting of multiple year bowl bans, massive scholarship reductions, and more. However, the story also says then Penn State will not receive the death penalty.

Because whatever the NCAA is planning to do, according to Yahoo’s sources, is much, much worse.

Then again, we have seen the NCAA say they will levy “unprecedented” sanctions before, and so far only USC has felt the spiteful wrath of Emmert and his crew.

In this case, what kind of sanctions would be fair? Do you think they will be worse than what happened to USC?

Drop in to the comments section with your take on Penn State and their impending sanctions.