Ohio State is in Deep Doo-Doo, like Bowl-Ban Deep

Well, well. It's all catching up with Ohio State in a big hurry. I tend to not throw stones in a glass stadium, since it's well-known that if Penn State is ever accused of violations, it's 10 times worse since we stake our reputation on running a clean operation. But that doesn't diminish how royally f-cked Ohio State could be if the NCAA brings down the full sledge on Tressel & Co.

"So Troy, all this crap you're pulling
won't hurt me 5 years from now, right?
'Cause I can keep my mouth shut
if you can."

Today, the Dispatch reported the NCAA's preliminary findings regarding Ohio State. The BBC gives a very nice (i.e. much shorter) summary of what exactly is possible and likely to happen, depending on what the NCAA decides when a final ruling is issued:

As it is, the NCAA states:

Tressel was guilty of ethical misconduct when he knowingly provided false information to the NCAA in certifying that he knew of no potential violations by his players and failed to inform OSU officials.

Ohio State fielded ineligible players last season when starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor and others competed despite Tressel’s knowledge of their misconduct. NCAA bylaws call for immediate suspensions.

Here’s how things stand in terms of the expected punishments on top of what has already been dealt out.

• The Buckeyes will not likely have to vacate their win in the Sugar Bowl, as the NCAA reinstated the guilty players eligibility.
• The Bucks will likely have to vacate all of their other 2010 season wins, and vacate their Big Ten Championship.
• Ohio State will likely face a Big Ten conference championship ban, and bowl ban, for 2011-2012.

I could care less about vacating past wins. We all know that's crap, and doesn't really mean anything other than taking down a few banners and returning (selling on eBay?) a few trophies and rings. But the Big Ten conference championship and bowl bans could be very huge for the football program. That would mean even though Ohio State could win the Big Ten East division over Penn State or whoever, that division runner-up would go to Indianapolis for the title game. The bowl ban is what we usually know about it, less exposure and less time practicing. Plus, it looks really bad for recruits to not go to a bowl game, even if for only a year.

There will surely be much more of this story. If anything drastically changes, we'll update you all. But for now, this all seems pretty self-explanatory until a final punishment is issued.

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