Well now, what have we here? Mark Emmert displaying more power? Flexing his muscles even more for the masses to see and hear? Well, not exactly, but don't look now folks, the NCAA is coming. And it's coming with guns blazing.

A program found to have made a "serious breach of conduct" with aggravating circumstances could face postseason bans of two to four years. In addition, the program may have to return money from specific events or a series of events or the amount of gross revenue generated by the sport during the years in which sanctions occurred -- fines that could cost a school millions of dollars. If this sounds familiar, it should. After the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal at Penn State, the NCAA barred the university from playing in a bowl game or the college football playoff until after the 2016 season and levied a $60 million fine -- the rough equivalent to a year of gross revenue from the football program. Coaches, too, would face new guidelines. They would be presumed responsible for any violations committed by their staffs. If they cannot prove they were unaware, the head coach could be suspended from 10 percent of the season to the full season. Some think it's about time.

From ESPN.com's AP article

Worried Big Blue Nation? Concerned that we will soon be staring down the barrel of a .44 magnum hand gun that could blow our heads "clean off"? Maybe we should be, maybe we shouldn't. But dont panic just yet. It still must be passed by the board. Five years ago, I would have told you that it had no way of passing. The NCAA was not going to shoot itself in it's own foot. But now, they have found a way to fix their public image of incompetency and ignorance. Drop the hammer, and levy the fines. Donate the money to charity and wipe the slate clean. Kinda simplistic isn't it? Almost too smart for the NCAA to come up with? Oh yeah. The problem is in the implementation.

More after the jump.

I applauded the NCAA when they came at Penn State with their pitchforks drawn. My reasoning was simple. The entire heiarchy of the University knew what was going on and they chose not to act on something not just ugly but criminal. Now some of you shouted to the radfters that the act as it was perpetuated was beyond the scope of the NCAA. This is where things get sticky. The new and improved NCAA says nothing is beyond their scope of influence. If you don't do things right, they are coming. And they are not making any excuses or asking permission.

"Coaches come to me and say, 'I feel like a chump. I'm trying to do things the right way and I have peers who laugh at me because I don't play the game and bend the rules the way they do,' " board chairman Ed Ray said in a statement released by the NCAA. "That's got to stop ... Most coaches are terrific people who love their student-athletes, try to do it the right way, try to have the right values and succeed. They're very frustrated. This has got to stop. I think most coaches are saying it's about time. We want a level playing field."

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce Ed Ray. That's actually Dr. Edward Ray of the Oregon State University. He's the new Sheriff in town, despite the appearances that lead you to believe that Mark Emmert is. When Emmert was appointed, I was sure that he was going to change the NCAA. You can look at anything I have written in the past, and I am the confessed NCAA's harshest critic. I was sure that it was going to be Emmert leading the way, and in a sense he is. But make no mistake, this is the executive committee's doing. Emmert wants them to go along, and so far they are not only going along, they are going 100 MPH. And Ed Ray is driving the bus. Here are his comments to the Oregonian after the Penn State announcement. Read them closely, because there is a theme to his answers.

Dr. Edward Ray likes the little guy. He thinks like a "little guy" University President. Someone who has seen his school fight the recruiting battles with places like USC and UCLA in his PAC-Whatever. But more than that, he hates people who get over on the system. He is not claiming everyone is breaking the rules, but he is claiming that the rules don't apply to everyone, at least not fairly. He wants that changed, and he wants it changed now, not later. From the appearances of matters now before the committee, as well as the Penn State decision, he has the votes to do it. He brought Emmert in because he shared his vision of what the NCAA should be. I have to confess I like a lot of his thinking, because I too want to see things played out fairly and on a level playing field. I just had no idea how far they were willing to go to get it.

Emmert is the point man, he is smart, unafraid and unwaivering in his approach to changing the NCAA. Ed Ray is the power behind the throne. Quiet, unassuming, and well aware of his position in the "New World Order" of the NCAA. These two men, and the committee that backs them are not to be taken lightly. They pretty much just kicked in the door and announced their presence to everyone involved. Cheat and get caught, you do so at your own peril. Do the wrong thing, even for the "right" reason, and they will drop you like a bad habit.

The real question now is "Where do we go from here?". I don't have the answer to it, but I do know this. You do not want to be on the receiving end of the NCAA's wrath right now. This is one fire that if it touches you, you not only get a nasty burn, you get years of scarring to correct through surgery and all of the pain and suffering that comes along with it. And oh yeah, don't forget your checkbook, cause this one's gonna cost you.