NCAA Still Investigating Allegations Against Ohio State's Football Program

Ohio State will meet with the NCAA Committee on Infractions on Friday, but it may not be the end of the major scandal surrounding the Buckeyes' football program according to Pat Forde of ESPN.com. 

Forde reported on Wednesday the NCAA notified Ohio State they are still being investigated for "other issues involving the program."

These "other issues" likely have to do with the allegations made by Sports Illustrated and "Outside The Lines." The allegations made include former Buckeye quarterback Terrelle Pryor being paid up to $40,000 for signed memorabilia by photographer Dennis Talbott. Another "OTL" report alleged Pryor and other Buckeye football players were allowed to play golf at a local country club for free. 

SI made various allegations about players trading memorabilia in exchange for tattoos at two different Columbus tattoo parlors dating back to 2002. 

Ohio State spokesman Jim Lynch acknowledged Gordon Gee received a letter from the NCAA, but it did not have anything to do with new allegations against the program. 

"The university has not received any additional allegations from the NCAA," Lynch said. "As a member institution, we are committed to working with the NCAA to examine any information concerning potential violations of NCAA legislation. We do not anticipate discussing any additional allegations with the Committee on Infractions on Friday other than those self reported in March, 2011." 

Just a week ago however, Lynch made comments stating the Buckeyes are still being investigated after being asked about the allegations made against Talbott and Pryor. 

"...We will not be able to discuss the details of our active investigation with the NCAA until the matter has been resolved," Lynch wrote in an E-mail to ESPN's Tom Farrey. 

On July 21, the NCAA notified Ohio State they would not be charged with either of its heaviest charges of "failure to monitor" and "lack of institutional control."

With the new information from Forde's sources, this could mean the NCAA is only ruling out those two charges for the violations that led to the suspension of the "Tattooed Five" and the multiple acts of dishonesty by Jim Tressel, which led to him being asked to resign. 

If so, the Buckeyes may have to face the Committee of Infractions for a second time after their current trial has been completed. 

It will be interesting to see what information continues to flow out of Columbus over the next few weeks about the Buckeyes' hearing and the ongoing NCAA investigation. One thing is certain though, Buckeye fans who thought all of this would blow over after a verdict is handed down sometime in September or October are not going to get their wish. 

The NCAA appears determined to thoroughly investigate every allegation made against the program and will not be going away anytime soon, which will continue to cast a dark cloud of uncertainty over the Buckeye program and hinder their recruiting.

Zach Dirlam is a Big Ten Columnist for the new website Sports at Work. Check out his blog, Dirlam’s Dirty Dugout Sports Blog, which features this story along with other articles and video reports on the major sports. You can also follow his blog on Twitter, which will provide you with the latest updates about what will be posted on the blog!