NCAA Should Stop Digging Its Ohio State Hole

Most of us have heard the old adage, “When you’re in a hole, you should stop digging.” Recent comments by NCAA officials in response to criticism of their decision to delay the suspensions of six Ohio State players, thereby allowing them to play in the upcoming Sugar Bowl, strongly indicates that the NCAA would prefer to keep digging.

Our analysis shows that rather than provide adequate answers to questions about the decision to delay the suspensions, NCAA officials apparently prefer to attack their critics. According to a Dec. 28 AP report, NCAA Vice President of Academic and Membership Affairs Kevin Lennon issued a statement in response to criticism that the NCAA’s decision was motivated by financial interests:

“The notion that the NCAA is selective with its rules enforcement is a tired myth rooted in bias and personal perception. Money is not a motivator or factor as to why one school would get a particular decision versus another. Any insinuation that revenue from bowl games in particular would influence NCAA decisions is laughable because schools and conferences receive that revenue, not the [NCAA].”

The attacking nature of Lennon’s comments is consistent with the type of behavior often seen in situations where an individual tries his best to get out of a jam when the facts simply aren’t on his side. Why would the NCAA take such a tack? The psychology here is fairly simple. The facts are not its ally, so if the NCAA goes on the offensive and tries to impeach the credibility of its critics, perhaps the critics will either back down or soften their criticism.

As further evidence that the facts don’t support the NCAA’s decision, Lennon’s comment about schools and conferences receiving the revenue rather than the NCAA indicates that he is grasping at straws to convince fans that money was not a factor in its decision. According to the NCAA’s website, the organization receives 90 percent of its revenue from TV and marketing fees, and 9 percent from championships. This appears to be a feeble red herring from Lennon to avoid directly addressing the real issue here, which is selective enforcement on the part of the NCAA.

In his Dec. 23 comments on ESPN’s College football Live, college football analyst Mark May expressed what may be the strongest criticism heard to date regarding the Ohio State decision. May said that if you look up the words “fraud” and “hypocrisy” in the dictionary, “there should be parentheses behind these words in four letters: NCAA.” The more the NCAA protests, the more widespread that sentiment will become. Our best advice to Lennon and his NCAA colleagues is to simply stop digging.