Several of the big conferences (Big Ten, SEC, etc.) are already making rumblings about leaving the NCAA and going off on their own. THAT is why PSU did not get the “death penalty”.
Well, PSU didn’t deserve any penalty from the ncaa. It was a criminal matter being handled in the courts - and still is to this day.
If not for a week-kneed administration accepting (even by some accounts WRITING) the consent decree, none of this would have taken place. Donna Shalala would have laughed at them and said “we’ll see you in court”. The “death penalty” would have been much preferable to what was handed down anyway.
This isn’t the focus of the book excerpt though, and shouldn’t become the focus of this thread.