HARRISBURG -- The future of Penn State's bowl game trophies may now be in limbo.
The NCAA tells CBS 21 News Sports Director Jason Bristol it has corrected it's position on the trophies, which were won during the period of 1998-2011; wins that were vacated as part of the NCAA sanctions against Penn State in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
"As a correction to our statement last week, the NCAA did not specifically direct Penn State to return its trophies from vacated bowl wins as a part of its sanctions," said Christopher Radford, the NCAA's Associate Director of Public and Media Relations. "As such, Penn State and each bowl operator must decide what is appropriate. When a vacated championship involves an NCAA-administered game, the NCAA does require the school to return its trophy."
Penn State won six bowl games during that time: the Outback (1999, 2007), Alamo (1999, 2007), Orange (2006) and Capital One (2010), respectively.
Radford added that the NCAA administers 89 championships in 23 sports, but bowl games or BCS games are not run by the NCAA.
The NCAA originally told Bristol it "expects Penn State to return the trophies its won to the agencies or organizations which administer those bowls."
Bristol was the first to report the NCAA's positions.
Last month, the NCAA announced severe sanctions against Penn State in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, including vacating 111 of Joe Paterno's wins from 1998-2011.
Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant, was convicted in June of abusing 10 boys. The NCAA also punished Penn State with a four-year bowl ban and a $60 million fine.
