[The Bet Master]

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content...a.html?sid=101

Ohio State University is wiping its stellar 2010 football season from the record books as self-imposed punishment for major NCAA violations, sources told The Dispatch.

But it is not suggesting that the team lose scholarships or be banned from postseason play.

The university submitted its response to the NCAA today, addressing allegations that then-coach Jim Tressel lied and allowed ineligible players to compete by failing to report that they had sold OSU-issued memorabilia to a tattoo-parlor owner.

Sources familiar with the university's response also told The Dispatch that Ohio State is admitting major violations of NCAA regulations, but says it should not face harsh punishment because no OSU official other than Tressel was aware of player violations.

In addition to vacating the wins from its 12-1 season along with its Big Ten and Sugar Bowl championships, the university has placed its football program on probation for two years, sources said.

The university also acknowledges that it sought the resignation of Tressel, who departed on May 30.

Sources said the report also includes the revelation that the university had identified one additional football player who received discounts on tattoos and has declared him ineligible. The university has requested that the NCAA reinstate the unnamed player.

The Dispatch reported today that Ohio State is increasing compliance efforts and staffing. Sources said the report to the NCAA will also include new restrictions on how and when players receive awards in an attempt to ensure they are not sold.

The fallout from the scandal has included the resignation of Tressel, the partial-season suspension of six players, and quarterback Terrelle Pryor's decision to skip his senior season and turn pro.

The NCAA could take away scholarships and impose a post-season ban on the football program as additional punishment for its violations following a hearing before the infractions committee on Aug. 12 in Indianapolis.

Ohio State also could face additional punishment if the NCAA determines it is a repeat offender stemming from violations committed by then-basketball coach Jim O'Brien and quarterback Troy Smith.

Sources said the university concedes it is a repeat offender, but contends it has responded appropriately, imposed fitting sanctions on its football program and should face no further punishment.

The downfall of Tressel and Ohio State began on April 2, 2010, when former OSU walk-on linebacker Christopher Cicero, who is now a Columbus lawyer, sent the coach an email informing him that at least two players had sold memorabilia to tattoo-parlor owner Edward Rife.

Rife, who has pleaded guilty to marijuana trafficking in federal court, paid the players with $9,480 in cash and $555 in free and discounted tattoos for items that included gold pants charms for Michigan wins and game-worn gear.

Tressel did not inform the compliance office or OSU officials that his players had committed apparent violations of NCAA regulations and signed an NCAA form certifying that he had no knowledge of violations.

Tressel then permitted the players, including Pryor, to compete during the 2010 season while never disclosing their misconduct.

OSU officials learned of the violations in December when federal officials told them that investigators had found player memorabilia when they searched Rife's home during a drug investigation. Federal officials have said there is no evidence Ohio State players were involved in drug transactions.

[callmejrk1]

oh my sounds like we need to pay someone some money

[iwantcougars]

ncaa banhammer, reduced scholarships and no bowl

[Wrecktangle]

Well, this is nasty. According to my formulas the top program in terms of power ratings since 1993 has been Ohio State.

[BigdaddyQH]

So Ohio State STILL has never defeated an SEC team in a Bowl Game, and has not defeated an SEC team since John Coppers first year at Ohio State. How pathetic is that?

[redrum]

they should be banned 2 yrs from bowls those players played in the bowl game and the coaches knew they was wrong

[kernssca]

not good for us buckeye fans

[callmejrk1]

always like the self imposed sanctions

[The Bet Master]

So Ohio State STILL has never defeated an SEC team in a Bowl Game, and has not defeated an SEC team since John Coppers first year at Ohio State. How pathetic is that?

lol, I'm still going to personally count it. Add that and the fact our basketball team could of won each of the last two years if not losing to an SEC team in the Tournament .

[Ice House]

Huge Buckeye fan here.

Okay personally I think Tressel is the exact opposite of what he is being portrayed to be. The guy was a class act gentleman. If anything he showed too much sportsmanship to other teams. I hate that things worked out the way they did for Tyrelle Pryor too I was really looking forward to his senior season.

That being said Tressel was a little conservative with his play calling. Hopefully the new coach will open up the playbook and have more of a go for the juggler attitude and run the score up on opposing teams.

Has anyone seen this QB Braxton Miller for Ohio State? will he start next season? I have heard that he may even be better than Pryor as a freshman. From what I hear this guy could even take the Buckeyes to the national championship as a freshmen and put the team on his shoulders kind of like Clarrett. I think it would be a mistake to start Bauserman he has absolutely zero upside.

Also what are the chances of Ohio State being banned from post season play this year? I think if that happens I will not watch a single college football game this year.

[The Bet Master]

Braxton is definitely a more complete passer than Pryor, but he doesn't provide the power that Pryor did in the running game, he is little faster than Troy Smith was but not quite as fast as Pryor. As for going undefeated I'm just not seeing it as I think we will lose Vs. Wisconsin or @ Nebraska. I agree that there is no reason for Bauserman to start, he is just a game manager, and I'd put him as our QB #3 option. With Fickell trying to remove the Interim tag I have no doubt that Braxton will start from day 1. As for the possibility of the post season ban, I don't see it happening despite all the crap you hear on ESPN, that is however if there was not anything else found by the NCAA other than the tattoo 6 or the Tressel lies. Expect the NCAA to add an estimate of 12 scholarships taken away for the next 3 or so years, as well as adding an extra year to the probation period that OSU has self imposed. Speaking of this here is a good article you can read to become more familiar with what exactly OSU is being accused of and what could happen as far as penalties in the upcoming 2 Months.

http://www.lmfaosports.com/forums/content.php?121

ESPN Drives Factless Agenda Against Ohio State
by
Jtrain

By now we are all very familiar with the Ohio State Tattoo/Tressel-Gate Scandal, as it has been pushed down our throats ad-nauseum since the story broke back in December. The cliffs notes version reads:

1. 5 players got tattoos for selling their own Ohio State trinkets and merchandise, were suspended for the Sugar Bowl.
2. Sugar Bowl whined and got the kids reinstated for Sugar Bowl.
3. Ohio State beat ESPN’s SEC Representative Arkansas
4. Jim Tressel was found to have known about the players getting tattoos before the season began
5. He lied to prevent them from being ineligible for the 2010 season.
6. He was caught, and forced to resign.
7. Ohio State punished themselves with a 2 year probation, vacated all wins from 2010 (including against ESPN’s SEC Representative), the 4 players remaining on the team are suspended for 5 games this season.
Still following me?

The reason for this break down, is we are hearing sports media outlets (especially the “World Wide Leader”) cry out that this is not a big enough penalty for Ohio State, and that the hammer of justice needs to be brought down upon Buckeye Nation. I feel like Mike “The Miz” Mizanin right now, because all I can say is: Really? Really? I get that fans of rival Universities (all other Universities for that matter) want blood, and don’t necessarily have the education in the what, why and how the NCAA actually punishes Universities for major violations…but for ESPN to be this far off base and to have literally no clue as to how things work, is just a small glimpse of the incompetence and outright lazy journalism they have been producing since the early 2000s.

For those of you who are actually interested in facts on the violation that Ohio State committed, the violation is 10.1. In its own right, it is a very severe violation, and can lead to a bylaw 2.8.1 violation, which is known to the infractions world as Lack Of Institutional Control or Failure To Monitor. The problem with the belly-aching going on from the World Wide Leader, is that the NCAA has not cited bylaw 2.8.1 in the language of their findings/accusations that they made against Ohio State. They cited 10.1, and nothing else.
Oh, the arguments you see by our good friends at ESPN are things such as:

1. USC got hammered, and they only had one guy take benefits!

WRONG! USC got hammered because the Football, Basketball and Tennis programs all committed MAJOR violations. Ahh yea, it’s convenient to forget the OJ Mayo stuff, when speaking about USC and why they received post-season bans and huge loss of scholarship, isn’t it?

2. Someone at Ohio State had to know, it wasn’t all just Tressel!

Prove it. This is not a world in which you can throw your biased opinion around and hope that it works out for you. Ohio State has presented its case that Jim Tressel was the sole proprietor in this excursion, and they forced his ass out.

3. Ohio State is letting Tressel get off free, waiving the fee that the NCAA levied upon him.

Wrong again. Does anyone at that company do research? Tressel was forced out at tOSU, and was prepping to take the University to court (a decision that could have gotten him millions in a contract buy out). Ohio State waived the fee, Tress dropped the case, and the University will pay him his final $52k, and the Tressel era will be officially off the books.

4. The penalties Ohio State suggests do not cover the crimes committed.

This is the one that gets me the most upset…You have the most data of any sports network at your finger tips, and yet you are too lazy to do the research…No problems, the research has been done for you. Going through the NCAA major violations database for the last 10 years for all D-1 schools, you can find every single case that is designated Violation 10.1, but not NCAA bylaw 2.8.1. In this time, there have been 28 cases that were major but lacked a violation of bylaw 2.8.1. Of the 28 programs that violated the same violation that Ohio State has, none of them received a post-season ban.

This is not merely a case against a University, this is a media bias race-car, and ESPN is the driver. I’m not going to get all “woe is me” and “the man is out to get us” here, but the facts are clear. The penalty Ohio State committed does not equate to a death penalty…In fact, it’s the same thing that 28 programs have been guilty of, and none of them got the holy hammer of God. Of those 28 programs, guess which one has been Nationally dragged through the mud by the World Wide Leader at every twist and turn of the story? Yep, the Buckeyes.

Truths are: Ohio State forced its HOF Coach to resign, they forced their starting QB to leave the University, the other 4 students have been punished, and they have proactively taken away the ineligible wins from last season.

So to my final point…why does it seem like ESPN wants more of a punishment for the Big 10’s Cash-Cow? ESPN wants more, because winning breeds jealousy. Jealousy breeds hate. They couldn’t get the Big 10 to sign a deal with them, so they became SEC Country…Note, that ESPN has run one single story on the Cam Newton-Auburn scandal. Shocked? You shouldn’t be. The Big 10 snubbed ESPN to create the Big 10 Network, which is making the conference money hand over fist. ESPN had to settle for the SEC. It’s all business, everything involved. ESPN is driving the “massacre the Buckeyes” train, because the Buckeyes represent the Big 10, and ESPN’s interests are in the SEC. Its all about money. Weaken your competitors, gain for yourselves. Its sad, it’s juvenile, and it’s TMZ Reporting…but it’s the current state of our World Wide Leader In Sports…Nuh-nuh-na! Nuh-nuh-na!

(UPDATE: Of those 28 schools, Alabama and Mississippi State received bowl bans due to Repeat Offender Status. I don't want to throw anyone off on this, as they would not have received said Bowl Bans if not for being guilty of the Repeat Offender bylaw...Also, I highly suggest reading up on the ESPN-Big 10 negotiations that took place in 2006, where Jim Delaney claimed ESPN low-balled the Big 10, and the Big 10 told ESPN where they can stick it. The Big 10 went on to create the BTN, and we've been the benefactors ever since.)

[Vin_vermillion]

excellent article and all BASED on FACT BET MASTER....

unlike ESPN....

[redrum]

they been cheating for a long time the need to check the gators also

[RPP]

Go figure. If my school, Cincinnati, did this we would be banned from post season play and lose and ton of scholarships.

[Vin_vermillion]

Bullshit. If this happened at Cincinnati 90% of the country wouldn't even know or care for that matter.