JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Here's the lede from the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
The NCAA's Committee on Infractions today gave Ohio State's football program a one-year bowl ban and a total loss of nine football scholarships, sources have told The Plain Dealer.
The severe penalties have surprised OSU, which had hoped something close to its self-imposed sanctions would be enough to satisfy the committee.
My first reaction to this is the phrase 'severe penalties' and 'surprised'.
Perhaps the only people surprised by these sorts of penalties reside in the Buckeye State. Many around the nation feel the Buckeyes either got what they deserved or got off light. That's at least how it looks at first blush from twitter verdicts.
USC lost 30 scholarships and had a two-year bowl ban. Then again, they hired Lane Kiffin to be their new coach, who was also under NCAA investigation for his time at Tennessee. So, USC basically whizzed all over the NCAA's desk while it was meeting with them and they got the hammer.
Ohio State basically ushered Jim Tressell out the door and the NCAA likely took that into consideration for a lesser penalty. The NCAA was tough on Tress, slapping him with the 'show cause' tag which makes him too toxic to hire for a while.
Ohio State's B1G mistake, as I see it, was not self imposing a bowl ban for 2011 right about the time they lost on the road at Purdue. Had they done that, they might have been able to avoid the bowl ban for 2012 altogether.
They didn't do that, perhaps thinking they were going to get off light. Urban Meyer was telling that sort of story to recruits, that nothing more was going to happen to Ohio State. He either believed that and is really surprised right now, or he didn't tell the truth. Then again, he's a college football coach and many of them don't deal in whole truths.
I am one who feels Ohio State got off light. These penalties aren't that big of a deal. Ohio State won an unprecedented six straight Big Ten titles, which meant six straight BCS bowl games. Missing one bowl season isn't that big a deal and Ohio State was not going to compete for the national title in 2012, anyway. They should have fallen on their own sword this year and taken the bowl ban, hoping to stave off future bowl bans. I am glad they didn't, because the NCAA could have let them off the hook if they accepted such an offer.
This is good news for Wisconsin, who will be favored to make their second straight appearance in the Big Ten Championship game. Next year's Badger team will not be as good as this year's Badger team, but they could play for the Big Ten title with a 5-3 Big Ten record, or something like it.
That's also good news for the Big Ten Legends Division champion, who will be a much better team than what I expect Wisconsin to be. If I had to make a Legends Division pick right now, I'd choose Michigan with zero hesitation. If things fall right for Michigan next year, they might be a nice darkhorse pick for the national title game.
This bowl ban also means that most teams in the B1G who qualify for a bowl next year will be playing in a better bowl game. The folks at Little Caesar's might not like this ruling, as the league may not have a team play in that bowl game next year.
The NCAA's Committee on Infractions today gave Ohio State's football program a one-year bowl ban and a total loss of nine football scholarships, sources have told The Plain Dealer.
The severe penalties have surprised OSU, which had hoped something close to its self-imposed sanctions would be enough to satisfy the committee.
My first reaction to this is the phrase 'severe penalties' and 'surprised'.
Perhaps the only people surprised by these sorts of penalties reside in the Buckeye State. Many around the nation feel the Buckeyes either got what they deserved or got off light. That's at least how it looks at first blush from twitter verdicts.
USC lost 30 scholarships and had a two-year bowl ban. Then again, they hired Lane Kiffin to be their new coach, who was also under NCAA investigation for his time at Tennessee. So, USC basically whizzed all over the NCAA's desk while it was meeting with them and they got the hammer.
Ohio State basically ushered Jim Tressell out the door and the NCAA likely took that into consideration for a lesser penalty. The NCAA was tough on Tress, slapping him with the 'show cause' tag which makes him too toxic to hire for a while.
Ohio State's B1G mistake, as I see it, was not self imposing a bowl ban for 2011 right about the time they lost on the road at Purdue. Had they done that, they might have been able to avoid the bowl ban for 2012 altogether.
They didn't do that, perhaps thinking they were going to get off light. Urban Meyer was telling that sort of story to recruits, that nothing more was going to happen to Ohio State. He either believed that and is really surprised right now, or he didn't tell the truth. Then again, he's a college football coach and many of them don't deal in whole truths.
I am one who feels Ohio State got off light. These penalties aren't that big of a deal. Ohio State won an unprecedented six straight Big Ten titles, which meant six straight BCS bowl games. Missing one bowl season isn't that big a deal and Ohio State was not going to compete for the national title in 2012, anyway. They should have fallen on their own sword this year and taken the bowl ban, hoping to stave off future bowl bans. I am glad they didn't, because the NCAA could have let them off the hook if they accepted such an offer.
This is good news for Wisconsin, who will be favored to make their second straight appearance in the Big Ten Championship game. Next year's Badger team will not be as good as this year's Badger team, but they could play for the Big Ten title with a 5-3 Big Ten record, or something like it.
That's also good news for the Big Ten Legends Division champion, who will be a much better team than what I expect Wisconsin to be. If I had to make a Legends Division pick right now, I'd choose Michigan with zero hesitation. If things fall right for Michigan next year, they might be a nice darkhorse pick for the national title game.
This bowl ban also means that most teams in the B1G who qualify for a bowl next year will be playing in a better bowl game. The folks at Little Caesar's might not like this ruling, as the league may not have a team play in that bowl game next year.
