With the NCAA set to hand down their ruling on the Ohio State football team's NCAA violations, the only question is, just how severe will they be?
The Buckeyes received a notice of allegations on Friday and has been hit with the "lack of control" tag, as well as dishonesty and ethical misconduct. There is also a chance that OSU will be treated as a repeat offender, according to the Columbus Dispatch:
stemming from the violations involving former quarterback Troy Smith, who took $500 from a booster and former men's basketball coach Jim O'Brien, who gave $6,000 to a recruit.
In what started as university-imposed suspensions for the first five games due to the selling of game-used memorabilia in exchange for cash and free tattoos at a parlor in Columbus has also led to the discovery of emails written by Head Coach Jim Tressel which explicitly showed that he was not only aware of the misconduct, but actively chose to cover it up for the "players' safety."
It is unclear how much this will affect the program long-term, but losing wins from the 2010 season, as well as reduced scholarships are not out of the question, and the future of Jim Tressel as head coach of the Buckeyes is also in limbo.