Ohio State University received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA today and, in the hopes of the NCAA going light on them after their August 12 hearing, have imposed sanctions on themselves. The allegations, and OSU’s response, can be found here.
Ohio State has imposed the following sanctions on their football program:
a. Vacate all victories during the 2010 football season, including the 2011 Allstate Sugar Bowl;
b. Vacate the 2010 Big Ten Conference Football Championship (co-champions);
c. Imposed a two-year probationary period effective July 8, 2011;
d. Withhold four current student-athletes named in Allegation #1 from the first five games of the 2011 football season (additionally, one student-athlete who would have been withheld for five games has departed the institution to pursue a professional football career);
e. Withhold one student-athlete named in Allegation #1 from the first game of the 2011 football season and withhold another student-athlete named in Allegation #1 from those number of games resulting from the decision of the SAR Staff; and
f. Sought and accepted the resignation of Tressel on May 30, 2011
The most noticeable “sanction” is that Ohio State has voluntarily given up every victory they achieved last season. I honestly don’t see that as much of a concession considering that the NCAA will likely rule that Terrell Pryor and the others were ineligible last year for violating (stupid) NCAA rules.
They have also imposed a two year probation (who would be the probation officer?) on the program. The other “sanctions” aren’t really sanctions at all. They’ve merely rehashed the fact that the accused players will be suspended for the first five games of the season and that Jim Tressel is no longer the coach.
I really don’t think this will satisfy the NCAA, judging by the smackdown they laid on USC last year. Especially considering the fact that there is a section in the Notice of Allegations labeled: Reasons Case is Major. The NCAA considers the allegations against OSU to be major violations and I think they will come down harder on OSU than they did on USC. I expect OSU (and their fans) to receive extremely bad news on August 12, including a bowl ban and loss of scholarships.
I fully expect them to get a bowl ban and lose scholarships. From what ESPN is saying, the university is laying the blame at Tressel’s feet hoping that the NCAA will blame him more than them and take it easy on them.
Yeah, but they’re still responsible for his actions. They hired him. It’s ultimately the school’s program and they will pay for his transgressions.