Penn State travels to Ireland this weekend to play UCF in a game that unofficially serves as the Lions’ bowl game.
And maybe its last season-opener bowl game.
Two sources within the NCAA say Penn State, if it continues to “reach and go beyond” benchmarks set by the NCAA in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, will have a “strong case” to get its final year of postseason probation lifted.
As early as next week, George Mitchell, Penn State’s athletics integrity monitor, will release his second annual report on the state of the university’s athletics programs. The NCAA last year restored some scholarships after Mitchell’s first report that, according to one NCAA source, “reached well beyond expectations.”
A similar report this time around, and new coach James Franklin gets some breathing room with the job of navigating the two toughest years (2014-15) because of scholarship reductions. At the very least, he could have a postseason to sell to the 2015 recruiting class.
