Sending mixed messages to college athletes

When the Ohio State Buckeyes take the field Tuesday for their Sugar Bowl match-up against the Arkansas Razorbacks, you can bet that OSU is going to put its best team on the field.

Check that — don't "bet" on that, because wagering on the outcomes of college football games is not exactly legal in most parts of the country. In fact, there are punishments for it, as there are for any of a myriad of transgressions involving college athletics.

But I digress.

Ohio State will suit up starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor, along with leading rusher Dan Herron, starting wideout DeVier Posey, starting offensive tackle Mike Adams and defensive end Solomon Thomas before taking the field in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. And why shouldn't they put their best team on the field? It's simple — the aforementioned five players violated some NCAA rules, and there are punishments for that.

Ohio State University announced last week that the group of players had sold memorabilia — that included Big Ten championship rings — for tattoos and cash at a tattoo studio in Columbus, where OSU is located.

How serious was the violation? After all, they were not accused of any criminal actions, and were not caught fixing any games.

It was deemed serious enough that the five players were suspended for the first five games of NEXT season. You read that correctly — the punishment will go into effect AFTER the Buckeyes play in the Sugar Bowl.

The Columbus Dispatch reported Wednesday that Sugar Bowl CEO Paul Hoolahan lobbied OSU to make sure the five would not be suspended for the game against Arkansas.

The players were reinstated by the NCAA for the Sugar Bowl after a successful lobbying effort by OSU athletic director Gene Smith and Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany.

So it's time to recap.

Ohio State University gets to reap any financial benefits of its Sugar Bowl appearance, as well as any and all of the contributions any of the five football players makes. Yet those same players, none of whom are paid for playing football for the school, will be held off the field for five games next season — possibly jeopardizing their placement in future NFL drafts.

Sure, the Buckeyes will have to begin next football season without the five players, and could lose a game or two as a result, but I am at a complete loss as to the reasoning to delay the punishment until then.

I only wish my parents had adopted the same "administer the punishment only when it's convenient" philosophy when I was in high school. Then my grounding would not have gone into effect until AFTER the KISS concert.

Contact Craig Purcell at 824-1036 or cpurcell@tcnpress.com.