Gene Smith, the athletic director at Ohio State, issued a statement Tuesday after the Buckeyes football program was stripped of more scholarships, another year of probation was added and Ohio State was banned from the Big Ten title game and a bowl game for next season by the NCAA.
“We are surprised and disappointed with the NCAA's decision,” Smith said.
Why? Ohio State lost institutional control of its football program under Jim Tressel. The self-sanctions Ohio State imposed were significant, but didn't go far enough.
The NCAA had to make sure punishment was rendered that will linger for OSU in this case.
It would have been wrong for Ohio State to be allowed to just rise from the ruins of one mediocre season, hire a great coach like Urban Meyer - and live happily ever after as if Tattoogate never happened.
The extra year in the college football's version of the doghouse is warranted. Yet, the punishment was not so severe that Ohio State can't overcome it in a reasonable period of time, hopefully learning from its glaring mistakes.
It's also fair justice to Ohio State's rivals in the Big Ten such as Michigan and Michigan State, and it send out a message to other NCAA schools that such blatant disregard to not self-reporting obvious violations will not be tolerated.