Baylor has received a formal notice of allegations from the NCAA, indicating the organization plans to come at the school with charges of lack of institutional control against the school and failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance against Art Briles.
Both charges are considered felonies within the NCAA's legal system.
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which broke the story, the NCAA has been investigating Baylor since June 2017, and submitted the NOA to Baylor "approximately three weeks ago." Baylor has 90 days from the NOA's arrival to respond, and the NCAA has 60 days to respond to Baylor's response.
All of which means this case won't be revolved until spring of 2019.
Seventeen women came forward with allegations of sexual assault or rape against 19 Baylor football players from 2011-16, though it's not clear exactly how that's a violation of NCAA bylaws. CBS Sports offers a possible explanation here:
Sources indicated that, specifically, players may have been allowed to play and/or practice in violation of NCAA rules while receiving extra benefits. What those extra benefits might have been aren't exactly clear. If those players were allowed on the field after being accused, they would have had to go through the school's regular disciplinary process. Whether that process would have required Briles to remove them from play while their cases were being adjudicated is not certain.
The NCAA went around its bylaws in going after Penn State after the Jerry Sandusky scandal; the organization's Board of Directors charged Penn State with a violation of the NCAA's constitution and hit the school with a loss of scholarships, a bowl ban and a $60 million fine.
The NCAA clearly learned from that case and is targeting Baylor from within its rule book. Of course, this is the same rule book that allowed North Carolina to get off scot free for offering no-show classes to athletes on the ground that UNC also offered no-show classes to non-athletes.
If the NCAA is able to prove Baylor committed a lack of institutional control, it would mean a loss of scholarships and a bowl ban for the Bears' football program. The organization can also hit Briles with a show-cause penalty. The coach has not worked in college sports since he was fired in May of 2016, and has since gotten back into coaching by agreeing to coach a semi-pro team in Italy.
Baylor has made a complete change at leadership since the scandal erupted. President Ken Starr, AD Ian McCaw and Briles have all since been fired; Linda Livingstone was hired as president in 2017, Mack Rhoades replaced McCaw as AD in July 2016, and Matt Rhule was hired as Baylor's new football coach on Dec. 6, 2016.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.