The Buckeyes received bad news as the NCAA levied the program with a one-year postseason ban, stripped OSU of three scholarships per season over the next three years (nine total) and placed the program on probation for three years. The postseason ban will take effect in 2012, which was shaping up to be a very-promising season for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State had already self-imposed the loss of five scholarships spread over the next three years, vacated all 12 wins from the 2010 season, placed itself on probation for two years and forced the resignation of former head coach Jim Tressel.
However, that was not enough for the NCAA, which handed down a Failure to Monitor charge against the Buckeyes. That’s as serious of an offense that a program can be cited for, with the exception of the dreaded Lack of Institutional Control (which OSU did avoid).
Also, Tressel was hammered with a five-year show-cause penalty, which basically ends his career as a college football coach. I thought he was done anyway in terms of coaching at the collegiate level (he still might coach in the NFL) but this removes any doubt.
Smith’s Final Stand
One would have to think this marks the end for embattled OSU athletic director Gene Smith. It’s stunning that he didn’t get out in front of this and self-impose a bowl ban for the 2011 season.
What did former OSU AD Andy Geiger do in 2004-05 with the men’s basketball program after Thad Matta took over? Due to the violations committed under Jim O’Brien, Geiger self-imposed a one-year postseason ban. That ended up preventing a 20-win team from going to the NCAA Tournament. (The Buckeyes were on the bubble after beating then-No. 1 Illinois.)
Smith should have done the same thing this season with the football program. Instead of taking away the opportunity to play for big stakes next year (a Big Ten championship, BCS bowl win or even national title) the Buckeyes should be missing a meaningless Gator Bowl in a matchup of 6-6 teams. It was a miscalculation of grand proportions by Smith and it will likely prove to be the nail in the coffin in terms of his tenure at OSU.
Smith’s one saving grace throughout this disaster was that he supposedly worked well with the NCAA and knew what was coming down the pike. So much for that.
How much did the postseason ban take Smith by surprise? Just read what he had to say at Urban Meyer’s introductory press conference as OSU’s head coach a little over three weeks ago:
“All we can do is look at precedence, look at cases,” Smith said. “Some of you know we looked at cases from Jan. 1, 2007, that were similar to us and looked at rulings relative to those. That’s actually what drove us to imposing some of the sanctions that we ultimately came up with.
“So I’m not certain what they’ll do. So we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Smith was then asked point-blank whether OSU was still possibly looking at a bowl ban.
“When you look at all previous cases, there’s no precedence for that,” Smith said. “There were a couple more cases that were more egregious than ours (that didn’t receive a postseason ban) and I’m hopeful we won’t have (a postseason ban).”
Famous last words, as they say. Smith’s incompetence is now obvious to the world and we’ll always look back on this situation with amazement that Smith didn’t self-impose a one-year postseason ban for the 2011 season. This year was already a lost cause anyway.
Impact On Meyer
The new Buckeye boss was likely taken off-guard by today’s announcement, but it probably won’t be anything that hurts what he's trying to build too much.
As it stands, Ohio State is ranked No. 4 in the country in recruiting rankings per 247Sports. That’s a far cry from a few months ago when things were going so poorly that the Buckeyes were just hoping to finish fourth in the Big Ten in recruiting rankings.
Now that the NCAA investigation is officially in OSU’s rear-view mirror, Meyer can tell recruits exactly what to expect. And since the bowl ban will only affect the freshman seasons of 2012 recruits – and won’t affect 2013 prospects at all – recruiting shouldn’t take too much of a hit from the Buckeyes’ standpoint.
Although, could this cost OSU one or two top recruits in the 2012 class who absolutely want to play in a bowl game as a freshman? Yes, it’s possible. But, again, anything more than a negligible effect on recruiting would be a surprise.
What Took So Long?
What made the “Tatgate” situation so bad was the fact that Tressel was tipped off about it by former OSU walk-on player and attorney Chris Cicero, and Tressel decided to say nothing about it to his superiors. (As far as we know.) As they say, “the cover-up is always worse than the crime” and that was certainly the case here.
As for what look so long in terms of the NCAA rendering its decision, the fact that additional violations were discovered after “Tatgate” – most-notably shamed OSU booster Bobby DiGeronimo from Cleveland giving money to players – proved to be the major hold-up.
In fact, without the additional violations that were brought to light due to the DiGeronimo situation, there is no way we would be talking about a bowl ban right now. Thanks, Bobby D!
So, it’s not fair to blame the NCAA for the investigation taking too long. More and more violations started coming out of the woodwork for OSU and Smith should have known he needed to be harsher with the school’s self-imposed penalties.
Bottom Line
Long-term, this won’t have a crippling effect on the program or even close, but it sure hurts as far as the 2012 season is concerned. With quarterback Braxton Miller a year wiser and running Meyer’s offense, and a defensive line that will be one of the best in the country, the Buckeyes were going to be one of the clear favorites in the Big Ten.
Also, what does this mean for John Simon? He said a few weeks ago that he’s definitely coming back for his senior season, but will he decide to turn pro now? Simon, a third-team All-American this season, wouldn’t be a high NFL draft pick because he’s a tweener (DE/DT). But make no mistake that he would get drafted – likely no later than the third or fourth round. I still think Simon will come back, but this certainly makes his decision more difficult.
As for recruiting, the loss of three scholarships per year – which is exactly what I predicted (hey, it’s good I got something right since I had been saying all along there would be no bowl ban) – won’t mean a hill of beans for Meyer. It won’t even mean a can of beans. So, instead of having a total of 85 scholarships, he’ll have 82. All that will mean is that the top walk-ons likely won’t be rewarded with scholarships. Which is a shame for those young men, but won’t have a negative effect on OSU from a win-loss standpoint.
Overall, it’s a sad day for OSU. However, at least the Buckeyes finally know their fate and can move on from what has been a year-long nightmare.