Ohio State Bowl Ban: Should NCAA Have Slammed Bucks Harder for Violations?

At long last, the NCAA has dropped the hammer on the Ohio State football program.

Per a report from The Columbus Dispatch, the NCAA has hit Ohio State with three key penalties resulting from the scandal that first emerged last December.

First and foremost, the Buckeyes have been banned from postseason play following the 2012 season. In addition, the NCAA has placed a limit on the number of football scholarships Ohio State can give out in the next three seasons, from a total of 85 to 82. On top of that, an additional one-and-a-half years of probation have been placed on the school.

Make no mistake, these are harsh penalties, and they effectively limit Ohio State's capacity to compete in coming seasons. Coming so swiftly on the heels of the hiring of former Florida head coach Urban Meyer, this is hardly ideal.

In a statement, athletic director Gene Smith said he was "surprised and disappointed" at the NCAA's decision, a pretty clear indication that he was hoping the football program would get off with a slap on the wrist.

On the contrary, it could be argued that Ohio State got off easy. The NCAA's penalties are harsh, but the NCAA didn't hit Ohio State nearly as hard as it hit USC, and the two scandals are largely similar.

In case you need a refresher, the NCAA hit USC with a two-year bowl ban and a loss of 30 football scholarships in the summer of 2010 (see Yahoo! Sports report). This resulted from a prolonged lack of institutional control, not just in the football program, but in other athletic programs as well. Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo were key figures in the scandal.

According to the NCAA, Ohio State's worst sin was a "failure to monitor," which certainly fits, seeing as how the university—and former head coach Jim Tressel, in particular—effectively allowed Buckeye football players to run amok.

At the heart of it all was a memorabilia-for-tattoos arrangement involving former quarterback Terrelle Pryor and several other players. Tressel found out about it, covered it up and the Buckeyes went on to win the Sugar Bowl in 2010.

To its credit, Ohio State did make an effort to appease the NCAA. It forced out Tressel, and also vacated all 2010 wins and refunded its earnings from the Sugar Bowl. In addition, it self-imposed two years' worth of probation.

In retrospect, these gestures probably helped, as Ohio State displayed a willingness to cooperate with the NCAA that USC never showed. That made it that much easier for the NCAA to hit USC with the lack-of-institutional-control charge, which it spared Ohio State.

In so many words, what we're looking at with Ohio State are penalties that fit the charges. The penalties are harsh, and so are the charges, albeit not the harshest ones the NCAA can muster.

Either way, the case is now closed and Ohio State has (hopefully) learned its lesson. It's on to the next college football scandal. Ohio State's wasn't the first, and it sure as heck won't be the last.