Bowl ban for Buckeyes
URBAN MEYER'S first Ohio State team won't be bowl-bound. The NCAA hit Ohio State with a 1-year bowl ban and other penalties yesterday for a scandal that involved eight players taking a total of $14,000 in cash and tattoos in exchange for jerseys, rings and other Buckeyes memorabilia. Tipped to the violations, then-coach Jim Tressel failed to speak up.
URBAN MEYER'S first Ohio State team won't be bowl-bound.
The NCAA hit Ohio State with a 1-year bowl ban and other penalties yesterday for a scandal that involved eight players taking a total of $14,000 in cash and tattoos in exchange for jerseys, rings and other Buckeyes memorabilia. Tipped to the violations, then-coach Jim Tressel failed to speak up.
The university previously had offered to vacate the 2010 season, return bowl money, go on 2 years of NCAA probation and use five fewer football scholarships over the next 3 years.
But the NCAA countered with a bowl ban in Meyer's first year as head coach in 2012, further reduced the number of scholarships and tacked on a year of probation.
"It is still my goal to hire excellent coaches, recruit great student-athletes who want to be a part of this program and to win on and off the field," Meyer said in a statement.
The stiffer penalties - including a finding of a "failure to monitor" of Ohio State's athletic programs - came because of additional problems that followed the tattoo-related violations revealed a year ago, almost to the day.
It was a sobering blow to Ohio State and athletic director Gene Smith, who through a lengthy NCAA investigation had maintained there was no way the Buckeyes would be banned from a bowl game.
"We are surprised and disappointed with the NCAA's decision," Smith said in a statement. "However, we have decided not to appeal the decision because we need to move forward as an institution.''
Noteworthy *
LSU's Les Miles has been voted the
Associated Press
Coach of the Year, receiving 30 of 56 votes. Top-ranked LSU (13-0) will play Alabama on Jan. 9 for the national championship.
* Iowa running back Marcus Coker has been suspended from the Dec. 30 Insight Bowl against Oklahoma after violating the university's student-athlete code of conduct. Coker's rushing total of 1,384 yards this season ranked fourth in school history.
* Utah offensive coordinator Norm Chow has accepted the job as Hawaii's head coach, a source told the Associated Press.
In a game last night *
At St. Petersburg, Fla., Rakeem Cato threw for 224 yards and two touchdowns as Marshall (7-6) beat Florida International, 20-10, in the Beef 'O'Brady's Bowl.