Did the Buckeye's Oversign their 2011 class?

Over the weekend James Jackson made headlines on the O-Zone site and all over the internet because he claimed the Buckeyes oversigned.  They key quote was:

“They had an oversigning issue,” Jackson said. “They had to free up a few scholarships, and coach (Jim) Tressel told me I probably wouldn’t play and maybe Ohio State wasn’t the place for me.”

Ohio State fans have long been critical of oversigning as the practice isn't allowed in the Big Ten.  It is a normal practice in the SEC and discussions between these two groups of fans will almost always lead to an argument about the merits of oversigning.  When this article hit the internet it poured fuel on the fire as the SEC fans cackled, "See Ohio State does it too!"

This really bugged me because 1) I think oversigning is wrong on principal and 2) I couldn't imagine the Buckeyes oversigned because they missed out on a player they really wanted on signing day (Aundrey Walker).  I had to figure it out for myself.

Schools don't really share scholarship information with the public but it is pretty easy to figure out who has a scholarship if you are willing to dig a little.  I used two resources to research the Buckeyes scholarships.  The first was the Rivals.com scouting site for scholarships and the Scout.com site for the Buckeye roster.  What I essentially did was cross-check the recruiting list for the last few seasons with the 2010/2011 Buckeye roster to see who was still on the team that had signed a letter of intent to play for Ohio State.

The following are players on the current Buckeye roster (by year recruited / alphabetical order) followed by the year they appear on the Rivals Website:

Recruited Players
Joe Bauserman - 2004
Tyler Moeller - 2006
Evan Blankenship - 2007
Donnie Evege - 2007
Dan Herron - 2007
Nate Oliver - 2007
Solomon Thomas - 2007

Mike Adams - 2008
Michael Brewster - 2008
Ben Buchanan - 2008
Zach Domicone - 2008
Garrett Goebel - 2008
Travis Howard - 2008
Orhian Johnson - 2008
DeVier Posey - 2008
Etienne Sabino - 2008
J.B. Shugarts - 2008
Jacob Stoneburner - 2008
Andrew Sweat - 2008
Nathan Williams - 2008

C.J. Barnett - 2009
Dorian Bell - 2009
Adam Bellamy - 2009
Jaamal Berry - 2009
Zach Boren - 2009
Corey Brown - 2009
Dominic Clarke - 2009
Melvin Fellows - 2009
Chris Fields - 2009
Reid Fragel - 2009
Kenneth Guiton - 2009
Jordan Hall - 2009
Marcus Hall - 2009
Adam Homan - 2009
Carlos Hyde - 2009
Storm Klein - 2009
Corey Linsley - 2009
Jack Mewhort - 2009
Jonathan Newsome - 2009
Johnny Simon - 2009
Jordan Whiting - 2009
Jamie Wood - 2009

Darryl Baldwin - 2010
Drew Basil - 2010
Corey Brown - 2010
Christian Bryant - 2010
David Durham - 2010
Taylor Graham - 2010
Adam Griffin - 2010
Chad Hagan - 2010
Johnathan Hankins - 2010
James Louis - 2010
Scott McVey - 2010
J.T. Moore - 2010
Andrew Norwell - 2010
Verlon Reed - 2010
Bradley Roby - 2010
Roderick Smith - 2010
Tyrone Williams - 2010

Michael Bennett - 2011
Brian Bobek - 2011
Tommy Brown - 2011
Chris Carter - 2011
Jeremy Cash - 2011
Conner Crowell - 2011
Chase Farris - 2011
DerJuan Gambrell - 2011
Curtis Grant - 2011
Doran Grant - 2011
Joel Hale - 2011
Ken Hayes - 2011
Bryce Haynes - 2011
Jeff Heuerman - 2011
Braxton Miller - 2011
Steve Miller - 2011
Ryan Shazier - 2011
Devin Smith - 2011
Evan Spencer - 2011
Ron Tanner - 2011
Antonio Underwood - 2011
Nick Vannett - 2011

Dionte Allen - Transfer

That's a total of 82 scholarship players on the roster right now (60 in school now and 22 true freshman) .  Since it is possible that walk-ons have been given a scholarship I checked each of the following and haven't found any that have been given a scholarship:

Walk-ons
Dan Bain
Dalton Britt
Bo Delande - Preferred
Nate Ebner
Derek Erwin
James Georgiades - Preferred
Tony Harlamert
James Hastings
Tony Jackson
Jon Lorenz
George Makridis
Don Matheney
Chris Maxwell
Taylor Rice
Justin Siems
Spencer Smith
Stewart Smith
Ben St. John
Julian Vann

That leaves the changes that have occurred since last season.  After dropping off graduating seniors you are left with 6 players and I split them into two groups:


Gone but expected to be on roster on signing day

Ejuan Price - Enrolling at Pitt
Terrelle Pryor - Declared for the NFL
James Jackson - Transferred to Grand Valley State


Not expected to be on August roster on signing day
Nic DiLillo - Given a scholarship for 2010 but according to Dave Biddle was kicked from the team last fall.
Sam Longo - Told coaching staff of his intention to transfer in January.
Cardale Jones - Recruited as part of 2011 class but was told at the time he would need to greyshirt

On signing day the Buckeyes had 62 players on scholarship and signed 23 players (excluding the greyshirting Cardale Jones) for the mandated total of 85.  Since then Jackson, Pryor, and Price have left which leaves them at 82 scholarships.

After doing this it does make me wonder what the Buckeyes would have done if Glenville's Aundrey Walker would have signed with the team on signing day as they would have then given 86 scholarships.  My suspicion is since Adam Griffin's scholarship was a last minute gift in 2010 that the same principle held in 2011.  Since Aundrey didn't sign we will never know.

The one thing I know for sure is when James Jackson announced his transfer in March the Buckeyes weren't oversigned and didn't need to make room to get in compliance.

Double standard for Jim Tressel

When the TAT5 story first broke back in December the O-Zone boards were split between the fans that wanted the players kicked from the program and the fans that didn't.  The posts were really heated and I was personally outraged that they'd disrespect the university and do something as stupid as selling their trophies for money.

I wanted those players kicked off the team so we could move forward with players that valued the tradition of Ohio State.  As time went on and the players were allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl I was outraged that the university and the NCAA could allow this to happen.  At that point I put my faith in Jim Tressel.  Certainly he understood the magnitude of what these players had done.  Certainly he would put everything right.

As I posted in another article, Jim Tressel proceeded to have a masterful press conference where he chastised the fans and alumni for thinking of themselves first and not the kids.  Three months later that press conference had a different meaning altogether.

The day in March the news broke about Jim Tressel  it was chaos. Various rumors were coming out and a question was asked on the O-Zone forums:

"To all you people that wanted the players to be kicked from the program in December ... Do you feel the same way about Jim Tressel?"

The question was asked condescendingly as it was unthinkable to most that this could cause Jim Tressel to leave the program.  I started to post but stopped myself.  I didn't know what to think as frankly we didn't have all the information at the time.  Even a few weeks later when I wrote the post I linked above I hesitated because I didn't want to face it.  The truth in hindsight is what Jim Tressel did was unpardonable.  He's the coach and  he can't lie to the NCAA.  He had to go.

My first reaction when the question posed above was asked was ... "He has to go too!"  I didn't think about it but it was my gut reaction.  It's funny how we react when we are faced with tough situations.  Being human means any decision can be affected by our emotions and it is up to us to see if we remain true to our values or bend them because of past deeds (or wins).  I modified my opinion over times because while the rest of the world was calling for his head, Buckeye Nation was pretty much following Gordon Gee and Gene Smith's lead in supporting the coach.  There were a few Buckeye trendsetters like Bruce Hooley and I personally remember being chastised repeatedly for even suggesting that Jim Tressel lied as many thought it was a grand conspiracy of some sort.  Despite the administration's support, public opinion gradually shifted and Jim Tressel went from 90% support to barely a majority with the minority getting more vocal every single day.  I found it funny as I saw my opinion go from being a radical Buckeye hater to being called a mindless supporter.  My position never changed -- once Gene Smith said they were going to support the coach and present information to the NCAA in August I felt we owed it to Coach Tressel to give him his day in court before making a final judgement.  Pressure mounted though and ultimately Jim Tressel decided to end the circus by resigning.

In hindsight I wish I had stood by my gut reaction because although I still think Coach is a good man he just had to go.  Taking a position like that would have been tough in Columbus back in March but I regret having a double standard.  I know I was uncompromising in December when I felt the players should have been kicked from the team but caved when the subject changed to the coach.

In the end I think that's the key.  We love our heroes and Jim Tressel was a hero for Buckeye Nation. We would have followed him almost anywhere and believed anything he said until he was proven to be human like the rest of us.  It took a while for us to realize it and once we did the double standard disappeared.  Once that happened, it was impossible for Jim Tressel to remain coach of the Buckeyes and his departure was only a matter of time.

Michigan is a bunch of cheaters and I can prove it!

Ok maybe not prove it but I noticed something suspicious on the EA's "NCAA Football Traditions" voting.

The place to vote is on ESPN at the following link: http://sports.espn.go.com/sportsnation/story?page=ncaatraditionsvote

In a shocker, #15 Nebraska's Horseshoe beat #2 Script Ohio 53 - 47% with 71k votes cast.  #6 Colorado Ralphie lost to #11 Michigan Banner by a 38 - 62% Margin with 78k votes cast.

If you look at the details for the Ohio State-Nebraska matchup you see that Ohio State won 30 of the 50 states with 2 ties.  The votes are all pretty consistently in Ohio State's favor except for the international vote which cast 52k votes at a 82% margin for Nebraska which is what won the poll (Note - this poll by state adds up to much more than 71k).

If you look at the details for the Colorado-Michigan matchup you see that Colorado won 41 of the 50 states with a pretty consistent winning margin in the 55-65%.  There are only 10k international votes and they have Colorado winning as well.  If you look at the number of votes by state there's no way it adds up to the 78k listed by ESPN.  Somehow this all added up to a convincing Michigan win.

I looked at all the other matchups and here is the number of votes cast:

54k - Notre Dame - WVU
44k - Georgia - Tennessee
41k - Florida St - Florida
45k - Clemson - USC
52k - Auburn - LSU
39k - Texas - Oklahoma

That's an average of about 45k votes for these 6 matchups while Ohio State had 71k and Michigan had 78k.  No doubt there are a lot of people that follow each of these schools but it certainly seems likely that someone is hacking the system in the OSU and Michigan contests by about 20k votes.

If you look at the voting maps on the other contests you also see a consistent pattern where the state results are reasonably similar to the national results.  The only matchup that looks out of line is the OSU-Nebraska and Colorado-Michigan.  If you back out 20k votes for Nebraska and Michigan suddenly things look closer to what you'd expect from the maps.

The big question is who is sneaky enough to do such a thing?  I think we all know the answer to that question ... scUM.

Should college football players get more money?

A discussion occurred on the topic of paying football players more money.  The comments that got me to respond were these:

• We can't expect these guys to eat all their meals at the cafeteria and do nothing else but eat, sleep, study, and play football.
• He isn't talking about survival, he is talking about a quality of life.
• This is part of the reason why this country's economy is in such bad shape. Too many people trying to live beyond their means. It's not enough to have the basics, they have to have more. If someone wants something beyond that they need to budget and save, not ask someone else for more.

Here's my thoughts:
If college football used the free market they'd be paying millions in salary.  A free college degree isn't nothing

but it isn't close to market value at Ohio State.  Just to give you an example:  The NFL is the only free market football system we have in the United States and their contract requires that player salaries equate to a little over 50% of revenue.  When you consider that Ohio State football brought in over $70mm last year, if college football paid its athletes like the NFL, they'd have to pay $35 million to the players.  If you divide the $35 million by 85 scholarship players you get and average payout of over $400k which is over 10x more than they receive in scholarship benefits.

I'm not sure if you know this but there was a study done last year to calculate the cost of attending college that aren't covered by a scholarship.  It estimated the average at almost $3000 with Ohio State one of the highest with a  $4572 shortfall annually.

I don't have a problem with the current system because the situation is much more complicated than paying fair market as that would effectively end non-revenue sports in the country.  What I don't understand is why we can't pay the full costs of attendance that the NCAA itself acknowledges.  $4572 per player at Ohio State isn't a ton of money ($389k) when you look at the overall budget and it at least lessens the need for players to go elsewhere to look for alternative ways to get money.

The current system was fine 50 years ago but TV has changed everything.  It's well past time to try to make it a little fairer.

Call for the Death penalty for Ohio State

I see more and more people calling for the death penalty for the Ohio State football program.  I'd find it funny if it weren't such a serious situation.  Someone posted the question today if Ohio State should get the death penalty and this is my response:

Even as bad as it was, the NCAA later admitted they didn't realize the massive effect on SMU and wouldn't do it again.

If they did the same thing to Ohio State, they'd basically be shutting down 30+ other programs that were totally innocent.  The NCAA knows they are dancing with the devil when it comes to college football and the funding for all the other sports.  They can't kill the golden goose for fear of killing the whole thing.  Colleges are already hemorrhaging money from rising costs/government cutbacks so they depend on their football teams to pay for everything else.  Without football you don't have college athletics.

Players are paid comparatively very little when you consider their counterparts in the NFL.  Keeping kids away from people that want to buy access is impossible to achieve 100% of the time.  The colleges and the NCAA don't have near the amount resources available to police this so eventually every school is going to get hit.  All it takes is one kid that does something stupid and somehow it gets documented.  At that point the NCAA has to go through the motions and while the media points to the program and says, "Shame on you!" while behind closed doors their opponents all breath a sigh of relief, thankful that it isn't them.

((I'm in no way saying that I feel a lax compliance atmosphere or Jim Tressel's omission was acceptable.  I expect tough compliance at Ohio State and lying from the head coach is inexcusable.))

Dorhmann will get credit for Coach Tressel's dismissal but it had been in the works for weeks

The brass at Ohio State didn't even know there would be an article until it was pretty much too late to do anything. You just don't find out on Friday there is going to be an article and fire him on Monday. At that point they don't even know if the allegations in the article are true or even exactly what is going to be said. It takes a while to do these things because lawyers will always be involved. Yes I know Ohio State has the misstatement on the October compliance report as cause but the last thing they want is a public battle of any sort. You just don't get that kind of agreement over a holiday weekend.

I've thought for a while that if the administrators were going to fire Jim Tressel that they had to do it now. The NCAA has been in town for a while and I'd be disappointed if there hasn't been off the record conversations between Gene Smith, The Compliance Group, and key members of the NCAA infractions committee about "what can we expect?" Assuming the response wasn't good for Coach Tressel, waiting until the official ruling could be devastating. Once camp starts making a change any time before NLoI day in February would be really messy. Better to do it now to minimize the damage to the program than wait and affect the regular season and recruiting.

Dohrmann will get the rep as someone that fired Coach Tressel but it isn't true. He just had fortunate timing for his article.

I've got a dirty little secret - I subscribe to Hooley's twitter feed.

Clicking the link is like watching a car accident.  I know I'm not going to like what I see but I can't help myself.

My main reason I follow it is because I really do like to get different opinions to help me form my own but following his thread is like an act self-flagellation.  As you can imagine Hooley's twitter account is a non-stop diet of negativity about the Buckeyes along with congratulatary posts to authors that bash the Bucks.  It's like a one stop shop for negative Buckeye articles.  So today he links two articles with the following tweets:

BHOOLZ: My man @chris_spielman bringing the TRUTH!
http://t.co/lc2FjYm”

BHOOLZ: @DanWetzel Very strong and dead on the money on #OSU, #Pryor
http://tinyurl.com/3wechjd

The first article is essentially an interview that Chris Spielman had with a Detroit News in which he bashed today's culture of entitled athletes and linked it to the issues at Ohio State.

The second article is by Dan Wetzel which essentially says the  issue is the Ohio State brass and not Pryor.

So Chris is bringing the truth about spoiled athletes but Wetzel is right that its not about Pryor.  HUH?  Not sure that both can possibly be true.

Seems to me the only truth for Bruce is as long as it is anti-Ohio State it has to be true.  Which reminds me ... I've seen him publish articles going back to his days at the Plain Dealer -- Has he ever publish on that said something nice about the alma mater he says he loves?  I'm having trouble ever seeing one.

The funny thing is I used to listen to his radio program all the time.  He tempered his negativity for the airways and when he had Spielman as a partner it was a pretty good listen.  I even went so far to send an angry letter to the station when he was fired as he had a role when they didn't replace Spiels they set him up to fail.  Now that Hooley is back to his old tricks, I'm sorry I defended him.

((I'm sure people will say I should just stop following  him and they'd probably be right.  The frustration is not worth the little info I get.))