What are the chances Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith was laughing out loud when he composed his response to the additional sanctions heaped on his school by the NCAA?
“We are surprised and disappointed by the NCAA’s decision,” his statement read. “However, we have decided not to appeal the decision because we need to move forward as an institution.”
Based on the kid-gloves treatment afforded the Buckeyes, that shouldn’t be a problem. Ohio State had already offered to vacate the 2010 season, return bowl money, go on two years of NCAA probation and use five fewer football scholarships over the next three years. On Tuesday, the NCAA tacked on a year of probation, took away four additional scholarships and imposed a one-year bowl ban. Even combined, those penalties are roughly half as severe as those the NCAA dropped on Southern California in June 2010.
A comparison of the cases is instructive. At USC, Heisman trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush and basketball star O.J. Mayo were found to have pocketed thousands of dollars in improper benefits from agents. The bigger sin, though, appears to have been the Trojans’ decision to be less than cooperative when NCAA investigators began snooping around the program and
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