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The NCAA has hit the Ohio State Buckeyes football program with a one-year post-season ban, the loss of nine scholarships over the next three years and three years of probation along with other penalties for football players receiving more than $16,400 in impermissible benefits. The postseason ban does not include this season which the team will face the Florida Gators in the Gator Bowl on Jan 2.
The bans were the result of an investigation by the NCAA Committee on certain infractions by players such as receiving improper benefits and tattoos in return for team merchandise. In the case of the tattoo star quarterback Terrelle Pryor and five other players were allowed to play in last year's Sugar Bowl against Arkansas despite being suspended for the first five games of this year. Many were outraged that the players were allowed to play even though the ruling was made well before and school officials had known about the incident beforehand.
Before the start of this season head coach Jim Tressel stepped down to try and ease the distractions which the team was facing in light of all these allegations. As a subsequent result Pryor decided to enter the NFL supplemetal draft where he was taken by the Oakland Raiders.
After Tressel's resignation assistant Luke Fickel took over on an interim basis as they struggled to a 6-6 season. However Urban Meyer was hired last month to help turn things around for this program. Meyer a former Florida Gators head coach with two National Championships to his credit, has been an ESPN analyst for this past season and said of the ruling "The NCAA penalties will serve as a reminder that the college experience does not include the behavior that led to these penalties..."
From The Sports Mind Of RB:
As I said in one of my earlier posts about the violations and the hoopla surrounding booster Nevin Shapiro and the Miami Hurricanes in the 1990's and 2000's it won't end. When players are treated like kings and have money thrown at them on a consistent basis there is no way you expect them to turn it down every single time. The NCAA always seems to be working from the back posistion and never the lead on instances like these. For all the Ohio St. amd Miami's there are a bunch of schools which go under the radar which probably do the same thing and will get away with it. Unfortunately there are good programs out there that get lumped in to stories like these as well.
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