Jeremiah Masoli: NCAA Denies Mississippi QB's Waiver To Play in 2010

Former Oregon star quarterback Jeremiah Masoli's request to play immediately in the 2010 season for Mississippi has been denied by the NCAA on Tuesday afternoon.

Officials at Mississippi have already released a statement of intent to appeal the ruling, hoping to hear back within the next week.

Masoli, who was released from the University of Oregon football team after two run-ins with the law, completed his undergraduate degree at Oregon this summer, immediately followed by enrolling in a graduate program at Ole Miss, in hopes of playing immediately.

The NCAA reviews requests for student athletes wishing to transfer and play immediately if their previous school does not offer the graduate program they wish to enroll in, so Masoli did just that.

While the NCAA has not released it's reasons behind the denied request, his past actions at Oregon might have something to do with it, although he did not actually break NCAA rules upon his dismissal from the team.

It will be interesting to see the reasons behind the denied waver, and if the actions taken were indeed subjective.

If both the school and Masoli claim that he has done everything by the NCAA books to make this quick transfer work, then what could be the problem? Could the NCAA be making an example out of Masoli?

These are questions that should, and probably will be addressed soon.

Masoli stated to AP that he is "shocked and disappointed" and "I've done everything I can to follow the rules." It is hard to dismiss the irony in the previous statement after what happened at Oregon, whether he was innocent or not.

Head coach Houston Nutt is disappointed with Tuesday's decision, especially after Masoli was the front-runner for the starting quarterback position for the Rebels, and in consideration to be one of the team captains.

If the school's appeal is not successful, Masoli will be able to use his redshirt and still be able to practice with the team, ultimately becoming eligible for the 2011 season.