With the NCAA’s lifting of Penn State’s sanctions today, Penn State is once again eligible for bowl games, and able to give out the full amount of scholarships normally allowed by FBS teams, starting in 2015. This whole situation can be a bit confusing, so here’s a breakdown of what specifically has changed.

This year: Penn State will still only be allowed to have 75 total scholarship players on the team. Coach Franklin can still only give out 20 scholarships to freshmen who will start playing next year. This is the only year not affected by the reductions, however, these numbers are still higher than originally set by the NCAA.

Starting next year (the 2015 football season): Penn State will be able to give out a total of 85 scholarships to football players, which is the amount all other FBS teams are given. The team will also be able to sign 25 incoming freshmen, starting with the high school class of 2016.

In short, the scholarships really have no effect for this season, except that James Franklin can now offer more scholarships to current high school juniors. The main impact will come next year, when the Nittany Lions can put 10 more athletes on scholarship, helping the team’s depth that has been such an issue since the sanctions originally came out.

The other main benefit of the scholarships comes with incoming recruits. Franklin can now take five more freshmen starting next year, allowing Penn State to really compete with other football powerhouses in recruiting, both in and out of the Big Ten. The lifting of the bowl ban will also undoubtedly play a huge roll in drawing recruits, essentially restoring Penn State to where it was before the sanctions came.

“Dominate the State” is about to reach full throttle, folks.