Still arguing about whether NCAA can do it?  Really?  Move on; it's done.

He thought it was real.

It was about as real as this video. I agree with Alan - The Penn State film was in very poor taste. At least the Ohio one was not about a serious issue, so you can laugh at it. There is nothing funny about the Penn State situation.

Not according to this article.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8195036/penn-state-nittany-lions-bill-obrien-says-main-goal-keep-team-together

No, it doesn't mock the scandal. Worse, it mocks the kids themselves. It makes them appear to have no sense of team or community, and be little more than hired mercenaries.

It doesn't portray them as mercenaries. The coaches ARE mercenaries and the new Penn State coach is talking the good talk right now, loyalty, commitment, overcoming adversity, etc. etc., but if players start leaving he's gone, as well. It's too late for him to jump right now, unless it's a pro job of some sort. He'll get paid for this year and make the best of it. After that, who knows? I wouldn't leave if I'm a senior, but everybody else should strongly consider leaving this sinking ship. The coach will not be there. I hope I'm wrong and they all stay and hold hands and pray and overcome and kumbaya. But I don't think so.

Why? What has changed? The PSU team will be the same this fall as it otherwise would have been. No, they can't play on a bowl, but they can play on TV. Athletes being considered by NFL teams will still be considered. One less game isn't going to make that much difference. Next year, and in subsequent years they will be someone worse because of the scholarship limits, but how much worse? Based on what we've seen other places, like USC, not all that much worse. Penn State certainly won't drop to being on a par with Indiana, for example. They aren't likely to win the conference, but they should be middle of the pack, anyway.

I just don't see that the ship is sinking. It's more like it's lost an engine, and it is temporarily slowed, but within a few years they will be back where they were. As we saw with SMU, the death penalty will cripple a team for decades, but no other sanctions that have ever been issued have come close to that, and these sanctions won't, either.

One other thing to consider. Most of these athletes are from Pennsylvania. Most will eventually need a job someday. I would expect that any that do elect to leave will be remembered, and those that stay will be remembered as well.

I disagree.

Short of the death penalty this has been the largest scholarship reduction in NCAA history.
A max of 65 scholarships will essentially wipe out an entire recruiting class as this years seniors will essentially not be able to be replaced in order to get to the number. 65 Scholarships is FCS numbers. Then once they come out of the 4 years they can still only max out at 25 scholarships so it will take another couple of years to reach the 85 limit which is FBS.

USC's case was under appeal so they are only beginning to have to abide by their scholarship reduction so that ship is just starting to sail.

Well, debate won't answer the question - we'll just have to wait and see what happens. I have made my predictions - that few, if any players will leave, that they will have almost no scholarships to give this year, and that because of the missing year of recruits, Penn State will drop to the middle of the Big Tendozen, but not fall to the bottom. Others have predicted mass defections, and a total collapse of the program.