According to multiple sources, including the Columbus Dispatch, the Ohio State football program has been banned from postseason play and cannot compete for the Big Ten title in 2012.
This means that Ohio State is automatically out of the running for a Big Ten title, any bowl game and/or a national championship for the course of one year.
The NCAA is officially set to announce the rulings Tuesday afternoon after almost a year-long investigation into the program after it was revealed that players were giving away merchandise for improper benefits including tattoos. Longtime Buckeye head coach Jim Tressel also lost his job due to his failure to notify his superiors on his players’ actions.
In addition to the postseason ban, Ohio State was also hit with the following (via the Columbus Dispatch)…
* Strip four more football scholarships over the next three years on top of Ohio State’s prior forfeiture of five scholarships over that span.
* Add an additional year of probation to OSU’s self-imposed two-year probation for the football program, meaning any violations through the 2013 season could draw harsher-than-normal penalties.
The NCAA will also slap Tressel with a show-cause penalty meaning any NCAA school that hires him could be subject to sanctions for appointing him as football coach absent a showing it should escape penalties.
This news comes amid newly appointed head coach Urban Meyer trying to rebuild a program that is now somewhat stunned by some of these NCAA rulings against them.
Ref: Columbus Dispatch, Cleveland.com (image)