Mark Emmert's controversial and at times radical reshaping of the NCAA continues.
On Tuesday, the NCAA's board of directors approved new sanctioning rules that will make it easier for the NCAA to more forcibly punish rules-breaking programs. The new guidelines, which both streamline and more clearly define the NCAA's enforcement policies, will enable Emmert and other enforcement officials to enact such damaging sanctions as multi-year bowl bans and multi-million dollar fines.
The announcement comes in the wake of the high-profile Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State--a scandal that resulted in the NCAA issuing some of the toughest and most sweeping penalties in college sports history. When those sanctions were first announced, many pundits stated that they believed they signaled a new, tougher era in college sports. And apparently, they were right.
Recent years have also seen high-profile scandals unfold at USC and Ohio State. Meanwhile, at North Carolina, there continues to be rumblings about alleged wrongdoing, though the NCAA says it's still investigating.
In a statement, Emmert said the new rules are aimed at removing the "risk-reward analysis that has tempted people--often because of the financial pressures to win at all costs--to break the rules in the hopes that either they won't be caught or that the consequences won't be very harsh if they do get caught."
Added Emmert: "The new system the Board adopted today is the result of a lot of hard work and membership input devoted to protecting the collegiate model."
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