NCAA Penalties Coming for Penn State Football

The NCAA announced that it will levy “corrective and punitive measures” against Penn State in the wake of the child sex-abuse scandal and coverup allegations, and those measures will be spelled out in a 9 a.m. ET Monday press conference with NCAA President Mark Emmert and Ed Ray, the chairman of the NCAA’s executive committee (read more details here).

BTN & BTN2Go will air live coverage starting at 8:55 a.m. ET with Dave Revsine and our studio team in Chicago, Mike Hall and Tom Dienhart (@BTNTomDienhart) in Indianapolis for the news conference, and Rick Pizzo on the Penn State campus covering reaction. Monday’s expected news comes on the heels of the removal of the Joe Paterno statue that once stood outside the Penn State football stadium. Watch all of our video clips from that event here, including reaction from BTN’s Howard Griffith and Glen Mason.

And be sure to read the column by BTN.com’s Dienhart where our senior writer he says this statue had to go. Dienhart will follow up with more on Monday as you can watch the news conference from Indianapolis live on BTN TV or online via BTN2Go.com as well as through iPad, iPhone and Android apps. Get details on BTN2Go here ahead of time.

USA Today reported Sunday night that the NCAA penalties for Penn State will not include the so-called “death penalty” for the football program. In addition, CBSsports.com reported that the NCAA will fine Penn State at least $30 million and perhaps as much as $60 million for its involvement in the Jerry Sandusky scandal, and that the record fine will go toward an endowment for children’s causes. Read the whole story here.

There has been talk among fans and critics about the so-called “death penalty” for the football program. According to this Associated Press story, the last time the NCAA shut down a football program was in the 1980s, when SMU was forced to drop the sport because of extra benefits violations. After the NCAA suspended the SMU program for a year, the school decided not to play in 1988, either, as it tried to regroup. Current NCAA rules limit the penalty to colleges already on probation that commit another major violation. But NCAA leaders have indicated in recent months they are willing to use harsher penalties for the worst offenses. That includes postseason and TV bans, which haven’t been used extensively since the 1980s. Read more here.

Also Sunday night, University of Iowa president Sally Mason told USA Today that the Big Ten might take action against the school. “I think you can expect when the NCAA is ready to talk about what the appropriate actions are with regard to Penn State, that we’ll be ready to talk about appropriate actions with regard to the conference as well,” Mason told USA Today. Mason is chairman of the conference’s powerful council of presidents and chancellors.

Here are some more tweets from Sunday:

JUST IN: CNN has learned Penn State will be fined $30+ million as part of penalties expected to be announced by the NCAA on Mon—
Ali Velshi (@AliVelshi) July 23, 2012

Joe Paterno statue is now gone…here's a photo of workers covering it before its removal. http://t.co/p1JCDKRw—
Christopher Weddle (@csweddle) July 22, 2012

The now vacant area where Joe Paterno's statue once stood. twitpic.com/aamymi—
Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) July 22, 2012

President #Obama says “it was the right decision” to remove Joe #Paterno statue, spokesman says. on.cnn.com/LDVe1s—
CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) July 22, 2012

In bold move, Mark Emmert sets up NCAA hammer drop on Penn State. My column: yhoo.it/PxNenP—
Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) July 22, 2012

In bold move, Mark Emmert sets up NCAA hammer drop on Penn State. My column: yhoo.it/PxNenP—
Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) July 22, 2012

Here’s the full video of the statue being removed and carted away on a forklift.