Penn State merchandise no longer available online?

UPDATE (11:55 a.m.) - Shopncaasports.com placed this banner on its site telling fans that it was indeed a technical glitch.

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Thanks to a tip from friend of the site, Zoo with Roy, I came across something quite interesting on www.shopncaasports.com regarding the availability of Penn State merchandise.

It's all gone! And not because it's sold out.

That's right. The online store of the NCAA has apparently stopped selling Nittany Lions apparel.

The link to the school's section has been removed from all prominent places. When I finally found a link in the Big Ten section, I was given this message: "Oops. We couldn't find the page you requested and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."

Furthermore, when you search for the school - I tried "Penn State" and "Pennsylvania State University" - the same message appears. After trying a more generic search - "Pennsylvania" - I was given results from nearly every other school in the state, and some as far away as Harvard. But still no Penn State, despite them ranking sixth in the nation in athletic department revenue.

Could this possibly have something to do with the NCAA sanctions imposed in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal?

Not according to Meier Raivich, who does public relations for Fanatics, Inc., the company that hosts the NCAA shop - as well as many other merchandise shops.

"It is just a technical glitch," said Raivich. "They are just temporarily down and will be back up shortly."

It is interesting to note that if you access any other Fanatics sites, like this one, there is no problem finding Penn State gear.

More coming...