Any political capital Gov. Tom Corbett hoped to gain from the NCAA lawsuit or any glimmer of hope Penn State fans might have had that the NCAA would lose a battle over the sanctions in court is gone now. Corbett’s chief legal adviser said yesterday that the administration and Pennsylvania would not appeal a judge’s decision to throw out the lawsuit last month.

“While this particular case is now concluded, the court’s ruling did highlight key issues that could be beneficial to other ongoing legal cases concerning the potential harm caused by the NCAA’s actions, which Judge Kane noted ‘raises serious questions about the indirect economic impact of NCAA sanctions on innocent parties,'” the governor’s general counsel James D. Schultz said to the Post-Gazette. “We will continue to review legal options available to defend state law, including the requirement that all fine money paid by Penn State be used to support Pennsylvania programs aimed at preventing child sexual abuse.”

Corbett’s lawsuit had asked for the NCAA’s sanctions against Penn State to be reversed on anti-trust grounds. Chief U.S. District Judge Yvette Kane ruled last month that the sanctions did not violate anti-trust law and threw out the lawsuit.