Emmert: 'Pleased' to see Penn State football thriving again

NEW YORK (AP) — NCAA President Mark Emmert says he is pleased to see how well Penn State's football team has bounced back from the sanctions the program received in 2012 after the Sandusky scandal.

Emmert said NCAA sanctions are not meant to cripple a school's athletic program.

— He declined to weigh in on whether the College Football Playoff selection committee made the right decision with the four teams it chose to compete for the national championship, but he did say he would prefer an eight-team playoff that would include automatic bids for the Power Five conference champions.

— He said he would like to see the new NCAA football oversight committee better define the purpose of bowl games.

"What do we, the membership of intercollegiate athletics, want bowl games to be?" Emmert said.

— The NCAA pulled its championship events out of North Carolina in September because of a state law that limits anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people.

— The NCAA is exploring the possibility of implementing rules and guidelines regarding the way schools handle sexual assault cases and allegations.