Ohio State's Window Dressing

The Ohio State football program and the entire athletic department have a huge problem. And if they keep making decisions like last week, the toxic environment will not improve anytime soon.

Ohio State decided to forfeit his victories during the 2010 season. Big deal. Who cares?Did the Buckeyes think they would appease the NCAA with this action?

I have written in the past that forfeiting previous seasons’ games make no real sense. The opposing teams and fans don’t care. People will always look at the record as it was before the forfeit. You think some team will take solace from getting destroyed and then starting bragging that it really won the game? Yeah right.

If the Buckeyes really wanted to “man-up” they would have forfeited 2011 home games, limited scholarships and agreed to not appear on television for one year.

But like the little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Ohio State frankly is hoping for mercy from the NCAA. It obviously thinks forfeiting meaningless games will help. I beg to differ.

I sense the NCAA will beg to differ too. And I hope the organization will come down hard on the Buckeyes. Cheating is cheating and the NCAA needs to make a strong statement. If the NCAA doesn’t bite Ohio State hard, why is there an NCAA?

Fairness requires major sanctions and fairness needs action.

Can Ohio State's Jim Tressel Survive?

Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel was back in the news Monday. And the news just seems to get worse with this guy.

The NCAA sent Ohio State a communication that said in part Tressel may have committed “potential major violations.” This stems from Tressel lying and withholding information regarding his players’ tattoo parlor incident. Tressel is already suspended for the first five games next season.

The national press is demanding Tressel’s resignation. They say he has placed a big, dark mark on Ohio State.

Tressel may think the fight in the Big Ten Conference is rough, but battling back from his sins appears a much more difficult road. The national media will not let this story die. They will continue to put pressure on Tressel.

Apparently, the Buckeye fans are still in love with him. Ohio State continues fairly silent over this latest NCAA revelation.

Ohio State fired legendary coach Woody Hayes when he punched a player in a bowl game. The Buckeyes don’t appear ready to pull the plug on Tressel just yet.

But whether Ohio State fires him or he resigns on his own feel will, I don’t think the guy that made the sweater vest famous survives. There are too many bullets flying Tressel’s direction. And I don’t think his vest is bulletproof.

I Told You So

Ohio State proved Saturday night my observation that the Buckeyes are not the best team in the land with a thumping at Wisconsin.

The Buckeyes held the No. 1 ranking only one week. Now Oregon is No. 1 in most polls and will hold it for at least more than a week because the Ducks are idle this Saturday.

But back to Ohio State. The Buckeyes have played a soft schedule and it showed Saturday night. The Buckeyes gave Wisconsin a major punch in the second half, but the Badgers responded and it was over. As I stated in an earlier blog, Ohio State must still face Iowa and Michigan. Two-loss teams will not make a championship run.

But if somehow Ohio State could run the table with its remaining games and stay at one loss, the Buckeyes could still make noise. This could be the year where even one-loss teams could compete for the title.

Oregon and Oklahoma should be concerned. The upset bug is alive-and-well in college football this season.

Right now, the Sooners and Ducks are one and two in the BCS standings, but this race could get really crazy at the end.

Isn’t college football a grand game?