Ohio State Football, Terrelle Pryor: What Will the NCAA Do to Ohio State?

This offseason has proved to be a very interesting and demoralizing one for the Ohio State football program.

Not only did five players get caught selling autographs and memorabilia for free tattoos, but after telling the NCAA that he did not know of any such violations, former head coach Jim Tressel admitted to being aware of the violations and covering them up.

The situation ultimately led to Tressel’s resignation and the departure of three-year starting quarterback, Terrelle Pryor. With both of the lead men gone, what should the NCAA do with Ohio State when they meet on Aug. 12?

I find it funny that most people with an opinion on this subject haven’t even taken the time to read the Notice of Allegations (NOA) that Ohio State received from the NCAA back in April.

The NCAA cites Jim Tressel, not Ohio State, for unethical conduct for his actions in covering up the violations his players committed. This is a big deal when looking at what the NCAA will do on Aug. 12.

First, it shows that the NCAA (up until April) did not have any reason to believe that the Ohio State compliance office or athletic department wasn’t doing their jobs. In the NOA, the blame is placed entirely on Jim Tressel—it never once mentions the Ohio State compliance office or athletic department for being involved in the cover up of the violations.

With that being said, what can the NCAA do to the program as a whole? Not a whole lot of anything if they didn’t cite them for committing a violation. By focusing the NOA on Jim Tressel, the NCAA is likely revealing that the penalties will be handed down on an individual level, with no systemic charges.

Another important issue regarding the NOA is the fact that it does not include either the charge of “failure to monitor” or “lack of institutional control.” USC received both of those charges, which ultimately gave the NCAA reason to hand down such harsh penalties. Both of these charges bring significant reduction of scholarships, bowl bans and limited time spent with recruits.

But, looking back to the NOA, the athletic department was not charged with either of these violations, so I find it highly unlikely that Ohio State will face the same type of sanctions that USC did.

In order to get readers' hopes up, many sportswriters will claim that lack of institutional control can still be handed down, but that isn’t anything unique to this situation. At any time during an NCAA investigation if the NCAA finds reason to hand down such charges, they will. This is just a scheme sportswriters are using to justify their continued speculation that Ohio State will receive one of these charges.

One other issue is the repeat offender status.

The NCAA warned Ohio State in the NOA that Ohio State could be treated as a repeat offender due to the problems in 2004 with Troy Smith (who received $500 from a booster) and Jim O’Brien (the former basketball coach who gave $6,000 to a recruit). However, this is also unlikely to occur since Ohio State did not receive a lack of institutional control.

Strictly speaking, Jim O'Brien has nothing to do with the Tressel situation. The NCAA has already ruled that the university is not at fault, leaving little validity for a repeat offender status. Buckeye fans should not be worried about this issue.

What about the recent allegations against Terrelle Pryor and other current Buckeyes? Shouldn’t that lead to lack of institutional control? No, it shouldn’t.

The new allegations against Buckeye players have not been proven by the NCAA—actually most of the new allegations, including the Sports Illustrated article, have been debunked. Just because the allegations appeared on Outside the Lines doesn’t make them true.

In fact, the NCAA just left Columbus after finishing an interview with the nine current Buckeyes accused in the Sports Illustrated article of receiving benefits at the same tattoo parlor as the "Tattoo Five." Larry James, the attorney representing the nine accused Buckeyes, said after the hearings that he is upbeat about the situation and that it should go away quickly.

Lastly, the new issues regarding Pryor will be very difficult to prove now that Pryor has left Ohio State. Pryor is no longer required to meet and discuss with NCAA officials regarding his situation; he has openly told the media that he will not cooperate with them if they ask for a meeting.

This puts the NCAA in a hole—they cannot make a case off of one eyewitness account of Pryor earning thousands of dollars for signing memorabilia. Even if Pryor was being paid for his autographs, it is unlikely that the NCAA will be able to gather enough evidence to prove it.  

So, what will happen to Ohio State?

I am not a fortune teller, but considering what the NCAA charged within the Notice of Allegations, this is what should happen:

Ohio State’s athletic department should suffer some type of consequence because Jim Tressel was a member of the athletic department. It would be unfair for the NCAA to levy all the sanctions on Tressel and leave Ohio State with nothing.

First, the NCAA will vacate the entire 2010 regular season and the 2010 Big 10 championship. It is a no-brainer that if you play ineligible players, those games will not count. The NCAA must do this in order to stay consistent with the penalties they levied on USC.

Second, Ohio State should lose five scholarships per year for two seasons. Doing this will show that even without a lack of institutional control or failure to monitor charge, scholarships can still be lost and programs can still be damaged.

And lastly, Ohio State should be put on probation for four years. If this situation occurs again during those four years, they should suffer tremendous consequences.

And no, there shouldn’t be a bowl ban or Big Ten championship game ban. This would be likely if Ohio State had received a lack of institutional control charge, but since it hasn't, it is highly unlikely for the school to receive postseason bans.

However, if the NCAA did find something while they were in Columbus to warrant a lack of institutional control charge, expect the NCAA to bring the hammer down hard on the Buckeyes—and for this story to change entirely.