Ohio State has looked as good if not better than any team through the first two rounds of the tournament. The overall #1 seed and pre-tournament favorite barely broke a sweat in beating two mid-majors (UTSA and George Mason) in cozy Cleveland. The games should get tighter and more difficult this week as OSU heads to Newark to take on Kentucky in the regional semi's and the UNC/Marquette winner in the regional final. Since the committee began ranking the overall #1 seed in '04, only one team (Florida) has fulfilled that ranking and gone on the win the tournament. OSU will not only have the pressure of being the overall #1 seed and the pressure of winning OSU's first basketball title since 1960, but they will also have the pressure of keeping the spotlight away from Jim Tressel and the football program. The men's basketball team has been a nice diversion for OSU and their fans, but once their run ends the focus will once again be on Tressel and his antics. I am sure if the OSU administration and staff had their wish, the tournament would stretch into August, August of '12.
Jim Tressel always seemed different, since the day he was hired in 2001 to rescue the football program from John Cooper he seemed to be an outsider. He came from Division 1-AA Youngstown State where he was wildly successful, winning four national championships. During his introductory press conference he promised that OSU fans would be proud of their team on and off the field, most notably every time they played Michigan. He has lived up to his word on the field as his team has won 7 Big Ten titles, 1 national title, and has a 9-1 record vs. rival Michigan. He is often referred to as the "Senator" and "The Vest" for his mild temperament and the way he deals with the media. His teams play a style of ball that relies on defense and special teams with an offense that chips in when necessary, this style has been affectionately referred to as "Tressel ball". He was the anti-Pete Carroll and had even written two books around his philosophies as a leader, educator, and football coach.
There was a general sentiment outside the OSU program that things were almost too good to be true. Players and recruits had off the field incidents that were brushed away as Tressel stressed the need to give second chances and the curing powers of the OSU football program. Could the same man who wrote the books and wore the sweater vests, be the same guy who recruited and defended Maurice Clarett? Things didn't change until the break between last year's regular season and Sugar Bowl, when 5 OSU starters, most notably QB Terrelle Pryor, were suspended by the NCAA five games for receiving improper benefits. The players were suspended for trading their memorabilia for discounts at a local tattoo parlor. In typical NCAA fashion they punished the players for making money on themselves, when everyone knows that the NCAA is the only one allowed to make money off the players. The most shocking result of the violations was that the suspensions would begin in '11 allowing the players to play in OSU's Sugar Bowl. The players then pledged their allegiance to coach Tressel, by not turning pro and vowed to start their suspensions next season. The players played and Tressel coached in the Sugar Bowl and OSU ended their 9 games losing streak to SEC teams with a victory over Arkansas.
All seemed right in the OSU football world until a few weeks ago when emails surfaced that showed Jim Tressel knew about his players' NCAA violations and withheld this information. Like a school child asked to discipline himself after being caught cheating, OSU suspended Tressel for two games and fined him $250,000, or 7% of his $3.5 million annual salary. If there was any question about who the most powerful person in the state was, when asked if the school considered firing Tressel, OSU president E. Gordon Gee laughed "Are you kidding me". When asked why he withheld this information, Tressel said he was scared due to the ongoing federal drug trafficking investigation of the parlor owner and that he wanted to respect his source's confidentiality. When asked why he didn't consult the school's compliance office, which is the largest in the nation, Tressel had no comment. No comment was also the response given when asked if he was concerned he would lose his starters for the entire season if he would have admitted what he knew about the violations when they occurred. Of the 12 previous coaches who have admitted to withholding or lying about NCAA violations since '06, 11 have resigned or have been fired. After the firestorm that resulted from Tressel's admittance and OSU's decision to stick with their coach, the school, on Tressel's suggestion added three games to his original suspension to match the player's suspensions.
I have scoffed at the NCAA for their "head in the sand" attitude to "amateur" college athletics, but this is their chance to show that if rules violations by players are not allowed, then withholding or lying about this information by a coach is as severe of an offense as can possibly be committed. The NCAA suspended then Oklahoma State and now Cowboy WR Dez Bryant for his entire senior season in '09 for lying to investigators about his involvement with an agent. If Bryant was suspended for an entire year, Tressel should be suspended for at least that amount, if not more. OSU had their chance to punish Tressel and they didn't just drop the ball, they buried the ball five feet underground. Tressel had a chance to acknowledge the violations and let the debate surround the NCAA rules themselves, instead by not admitting the truth and putting the violations in the past, it has become part of OSU's and Tressel present and future. "It takes only a moment of weakness to wipe away a lifetime of goodwill" is a quote Tressel acknowledges as one of his favorites in his second book, maybe the NCAA can cite this when they ban Tressel from OSU for the 2 years he deserves along with his salary for both seasons. At least Carroll left USC before he had to answer the questions about what he knew and when, saving himself for pulling a "Tressel" affectionately known as lying or withholding violations in your program.
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