Penn State Handed Tough Penalties, Will Face Minnesota On Nov. 9

NCAA president Mark Emmert made it clear that Penn State wasn't going to be let off easy regarding the punishments doled out after the Jerry Sandusky scandal, and he wasn't kidding.

On Monday, the NCAA announced a laundry list of penalties for Penn State that included 13 years of vacated wins, a lengthy post-season ban and plenty more. It stopped only short of just giving them the death penalty, but might as well have after slapping them with heavy scholarship restrictions that will cripple their recruiting abilities for years.

You can find the full list of punishments handed down to Penn State here.

The first meeting between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the newly crippled Nittany Lions will be on Nov. 9, hosted by the Gophers. It should be an interesting match up, watching the likely miserable Penn State team taking on a squad that isn't exactly a powerhouse themselves -- Minnesota could do well for themselves and boost their Big Ten status with that game.

Minnesota may even be able to get some new talent out of the whole ordeal, with one of the punishments on Penn State being that players can transfer out with no penalties immediately. It certainly wouldn't hurt the Gophers to nick a player or two off the talented roster that the Nittany Lions currently have, especially with the Big Ten weakened as it has been for the next few seasons.

For more on the Minnesota Golden Gophers, check out The Daily Gopher. More on the penalties given to Penn State can be found over at Black Shoe Diaries and SB Nation's StoryStream. More on college football in general can be found over at SB Nation's NCAA hub.