The Ohio State Buckeyes received a pretty bit penalty on Tuesday, being banned from postseason play in 2012 - which includes any bowl games, Big Ten conference games or potential National Championship games. They lost some football scholarships and received an extra year of probation. All-in-all, it was a pretty rough day for Ohio State. Many are wondering where things are going to go with many of their top recruits this year, as many are reporting that new head coach Urban Meyer has been promising them that the NCAA wouldn't levy a postseason ban.
And yet, with all of that, somebody believes that Ohio State got off light and dodged a bullet, and it certainly seems that way according to this tweet:
Key witness refused to cooperate w/ NCAA's Ohio State probe. Had he taken part, sanctions could have been far worse. OSU dodged a bullet.
If that report is true, then Ohio State did indeed dodge a bullet. With the length and depth of the investigation that took place, if another key witness had been able to cooperate with the NCAA, OSU could be looking at a devastating effect on their football program. When looked at from that perspective, it's hard to be upset about a one-year postseason ban. How many years could it have lasted if there were more hard evidence on the Buckeyes? We'll probably never know, but this is one of those odd "silver linings."