Ben Mauk Free to Not Be Cinci's QB

Well, we called for his freedom, and now it was finally given by the NCAA. They denied his appeal, with out a hearing. So his time as Cinci QB is over. Mauk had argued that the season he was redshirted as a freshman at Wake Forest in large part because of an injury. While no one questioned the injury (since he did have surgery before going to Wake Forest), the problem was Wake Forest had no documentation to prove it.

In the end, Ben Mauk lost his appeal because UC could not overcome the obstacle of not having contemporaneous documentation that could prove that he was injured during his freshman year at Wake Forest.

"It just didn't exist," said Maggie McKinley, assistant athletic director/compliance. "Our hope as that we could get it to the committee and they would find a way to give relief from the rule, but they were unable to come up with any way to grant that relief."

Rules are rules are rules. The system is fine. The procedures are in place.

Somehow it took the NCAA over 3 months to decide not to hold a hearing and rule that Mauk had no more eligibility. To keep Mauk in limbo. Still in school. Still training. Stuck waiting. As if the NCAA hoped he would just lose interest and go away.

Cincinnati Coach Brian Kelly is trying to get Mauk into an NFL training camp -- which seems unlikely at this point. Cinci also appears to be willing to let Mauk stay in school as a student assistant on the football team, while completing his masters degree in criminal justice.

A fair and generous decision by Cinci -- unlike the NCAA.