OSU was surprised and disappointed in the verdict from NCAA yesterday afternoon. OSU's approach in this entire matter was to but the blame on a couple people, Jim Tressel and Terrelle Pryor. They gave themselves light penalties and had hoped this would all fade away as they hired a big name coach and other Universities imploded (Miami and PSU).
That approach didn't work and I will tell you why. Let's look at the penalty in full.
- OSU vacated all 2010 wins and Sugar Bowl win, - who cares. This really isn't a penalty and all it does is cost them a few dollars and some wins in the record book. Zero impact.
- 1 year Bowl Ban and No Big Ten Championship Game - Strong Penalty. OSU did not expect this penalty as they would have taken it this year if they did. Some fans think it should have been 2 years but 1 year when most of the offenders in this case are no longer at the school (head coach and players) seems about right. I don't see this effecting many of the recruits since they will not be playing much as freshman and may redshirt. Who this effects is the seniors on the team. Next year they will not be playing for championships, which has to hurt. This is also somewhat of a slap in the face of the Urban Meyer hire. If he thought next year would be a waste, he would have stayed at ESPN for another year? I bet they would have kept Luke as head coach for another year if they knew this was coming
- Reduction of 9 Scholarships - Strong Penalty - I keep hearing how manageable losing on average 3 scholarships a year is. (OSU can take the penalty all at once or over 3 years). I disagree, anytime you lose scholarships it effects depth on your team. Look at the teams in the National Championship game, both are known over signers. So yes, players and scholarships are the lifeline to any program. No it's not 30 spots like USC got, but this is going to hurt and will allow players from Ohio or other places to go to other schools. OSU tried to go with 5 and got 4 more put on.
- 5 year "Show Clause" Penalty for Jim Tressel - Severe Penalty - The NCAA pretty much ended Tressel's career in college football with this penalty. He will not be able to coach Akron or another school that might have an opening. NCAA was also sending a message that you can't have a history of cheating like Tressel had at Youngstown State and OSU. He knew this was coming after he lied to the NCAA last year.
- 3 year probation - Regular Penalty - this is a regular penalty and means little to nothing if they keep their nose clean or don't get caught for the next 3 years.
Michigan fans will say these penalties are too soft and I agree they should have been more. I would have hit them a bit harder on the scholarships losses. I would have doubled the amount of players that were involved. They played 7 ineligible players and I would have docked them 14 scholarships. I never thought the NCAA would give them a 2 year bowl ban because that hurts the Big Ten and Big Ten revenue.
The Big Losers in this Penalty:
- Jim Tressel can now only work in professional football. Arena League?
- Urban Meyer who got sold a bill of goods when he got hired on. OSU didn't want his first year to be a waste and now it will be. They would have been happy to take the bowl ban this year. He also has to compete with less then 85 scholarships for the next 3 years.
- Some 2012 recruits who bought into the fact that Meyer was selling "no new penalties".
- The OSU seniors next year who are only playing for pride.
Last mention about Brionte Dunn: He was really concerned about 2 things. 1) If OSU hired a spread coach that doesn't have a history of a power running game - which happened. 2) If OSU would get a bowl ban - which they did. Heart over head decision. There is a strong rumor that Urban was going to pull his offer if he took another visit to Ann Arbor which pretty much limited Dunn's options and he stayed with the Buckeyes.
3 comments:
The strength of any penalty is the power to discourage any future violations in that area. I am convinced that the need to cheat for osu is in their DNA, and the penalities to them amount to nothing more than finger wagging from the NCAA.
I agree "Voice" when you look at what USC got for just 2 people involved, 1 player 1 coach, it dosn't seem to add up. OSU had so many more it's just down right ridiculus. Once again it's not what you know but who...
@uncle ron~to be fair USC did not cooperate with the NCAA in an investigation involving an agent and well over $100k with an assistant coach also involved. OSU ultimately fired their coach who evidently knew about players selling their own awards for cash amounting to less than $14 thousand spread amoung 9 players over a years period. OSU cooperated with the NCAA even imposed their own sanctions, USC did not and stonewalled the investigation. OSU players got tats and gas money, were not talking agents and huge amounts of money. What don't you get?
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