Florida State Gets Probation, Other Penalties for Academic Scandal

The NCAA has dropped major penalties on Florida State's athletics program Friday, tagging the Seminoles with four years of probation and other penalties in response to an academic scandal tinged with "major violations" committed between 2006 and 2007.

Florida State has a right to appeal, but the notable punishments include: public reprimand and censure, scholarship limits imposed for football and several other sports, all records (wins, stats) vacated for all games ineligible athletes participated in and requirement of an annual compliance report.

It's unclear yet how many victories Florida State's football program will lose, but count on Penn State's Joe Paterno (383 victories) now sliding comfortably ahead of Bobby Bowden (382) in college football's all-time victory battle.

The genesis of Florida State's problems was the online examination process for a music class not being "administered in a structured environment." Sixty-one athletes from the football, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's track and field, baseball, softball and men's golf teams participated.

Notably, Florida State had removed over 30 players from its 2007 Music City Bowl roster and suspended many more for several games to start the 2008 season in response to its investigation of the scandal.

The Orlando Sentinel's Chopping Block blog is doing an excellent job tracking this, reporting some interesting details from the NCAA's teleconference. The award for misplaced priorities goes to an unknown reporter who asked whether consideration was given to Bobby Bowden's all-time wins mark before sanctions were made. The NCAA -- in the form of spokesman Dennis Thomas, vice chair of the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions, and another spokeswoman -- did clarify that Florida State would 'vacate' its wins from football and other sports, meaning that they would lose their wins and records but opponents' records would go unchanged.

In a somewhat similar case a few years ago, Oklahoma screamed bloody murder after penalties were handed down and the NCAA lightened the burden after further evaluation. Perhaps Florida State will have similar success but, as noted by the Chopping Block, academic fraud is among the most severe of crimes in the NCAA's eyes, more severe than even some of the more sensationalized booster and/or improper benefit type cases -- ahem, Reggie Bush.

I'll again reference The Chopping Block which notes that we cannot immediately know how many victories Florida State's football program will vacate because "it's FSU's job to determine whether ineligible students participated in an intercollegiate event. Anytime ineligible students participated in an intercollegiate event, the school must vacate wins from those games. Then, the school must report those findings to the NCAA."

This is interesting because, in a way, the NCAA has now cleared the deck with the Oklahoma and Florida State cases now mostly handled, freeing up more investigative energy for whatever eventually comes USC's way in response to the fairly complicated situation involving Bush.

Notable reaction: Tomahawk Nation claims "Florida State beat the NCAA. Bobby Bowden lost. The only people angry about this are the Bowden crowd and the Track Team." They also report Florida State will have 83 football scholarships (grants-in-aide in NCAA parlance) in 2008-2009, 82 in 2009-2010, and 84 in 2010-2011 instead of the customary 85. That's really, really light for a major program.

Oh, and for the curious, barring any changes after appeal here's the language for the NCAA's official entry for Florida State in its publicly available infractions database:

Institution: Florida State University
Date: 06-MAR-09

Violation Summary: Violations of NCAA legislation involving three former University Athletics Academic Support Services staff members (including a former learning specialist) who gave improper assistance resulting in academic fraud to numerous student-athletes representing multiple sport programs. There were also associated violations relating to the provision of impermissible benefits and a failure to monitor by the institution.

Penalty Summary: Additional penalties imposed by the committee were as follows: public reprimand and censure; four years of probation (the institution had proposed a period of two years); additional limits in the number of grants-in-aid in football, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's track and field, baseball, softball and men's golf; vacation of all records in which the 61 student-athletes competed while ineligible during 2006 and 2007 in the sports of football, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's track and field, baseball, softball and men's golf; show-cause order for the former learning specialist for a period of four years; show-cause order for the former tutor for a period of three years; show-cause order for the former academic advisor for a period of five years; annual compliance reporting required.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-06-2009 @ 5:43PM

greg said...

Like wow man, what a surprise. Now if the NCAA would look into the LSU, USC, OSU, and the gator's program, Im sure they would find a lot of cheating.

3-06-2009 @ 5:59PM

hus4154 said...

What took the NCAA so long? This has been a renegade program for years. It's not like everybody didn't know.

3-06-2009 @ 6:02PM

Mr.G said...

Greg, You are NOT "sure" of anything of the sort.Do your homework before spewing your venom about other schools.You will not find men of any higher integrity than what OSU has in Jim Tressell and President Gordon Gee.I absolutely guarantee it.

3-06-2009 @ 7:21PM

Does the name Maurice Claret (spelling not the issue, the claim is) ring a bell?

3-06-2009 @ 6:33PM

garyrjas said...

Bowden should have left a long time ago, but come on people. Your remarks about FSU program being renegade are obviously being made by opponents who just don't like FSU. And I'd rather have a few cheat than some of those players from the likes of Miami others who have a bunch of felons on their rosters. The fact is, I'd love to get rid of all college sports. They are just free recruiting grounds for the pros. And even though they make money for the school most of it goes to the sports programs, so if they left, schools could concentrate on what they are supposed to do, education.

3-07-2009 @ 1:15AM

hus ; And just what claim would you be making in regards to OSU and Clarett?

3-07-2009 @ 1:46AM

Clarett played 1 year at OSU,won a National Championship and left.Does that ring a bell?Whatever trouble Clarett found after he left,does not reflect on OSU whatsoever.So what is your point?...You don't have one.You're just another ill informed blogger slinging mud, but ignoring the facts.

3-07-2009 @ 12:19PM

marcjacks said...

First off they must have it in for fsu!!!! There has been alot worse incidents that happened on other campuses. UF had a guy use a females credit card who had passed away charging nearly $5000. Along with the fights at clubs and fighting police officers. But they still played and the NCAA did not step in. And what about Reggie Bush,and Maurice Clarett did admit taking money and a car from alumni but there was no investigation.Did you see those colleges go on probation. Man this is a joke taking away his wins!! NCAA Committee should just go to hell!!!!

3-07-2009 @ 12:28PM

Brian Grummell said...

Actually he's a commenter, not a blogger.

And kill the high and mighty act Ohio State fan. There are no saints in college football.

3-07-2009 @ 7:44PM

Well,whoop de doo.A blog or a comment.What are you the grammar nazi?If so,show me where I used the word "saints".I said they were men of integrity.If you disagree fine,prove it.

3-07-2009 @ 7:03PM

This article is about a school that has been found guilty of cheating,not about players that get into trouble.Any major program is going to have to deal with wayward players at some time or another.As for Clarett,that was no "admission" he made,it was an accusation from his jail cell that he later rescinded,because it was proven to be another of his lies. - @Brian: Well whoop de doo, a blog or a comment.Are you the designated grammar nazi? If so,show me where I used the word "saints" anywhere.I said they were men of integrity.If you disagree with that,prove it.

3-09-2009 @ 10:50AM

bobby said...

Some of you people are too young to remember or senile like Ain't-a-Saint Bobby, but UF has been under the NCAA microscope before. The Gators received severe sanctions, including loss of scholarships and SEC titles. Meanwhile, FSU and BB laughed, commented how it was about time, how the playing field had not been level, and used the years of Gators probation to build the Nole program to respectability. FSU has been out-of-control for too long. May the sanctions be thorough, hash, and lengthy. The Noles and BB deserve it. Meanwhile, Go SEC! Go Gators!!

3-09-2009 @ 2:06PM

Although the Noles would probably prefer hash, I meant to type harsh.

3-09-2009 @ 10:53PM

Bob said...

There is a difference between a PLAYER doing wrong and a PROGRAM doing wrong. When a player makes a personal choice to go around the rules, then he should be singled out and punished accordingly--there is no need to drag the whole program down if the evidence shows that it was an isolated incident. The case against FSU shows infractions by university staff, in which case the program and the university should be held liable. Yes, I'm sure there are many other programs doing wrong, but as the saying goes, "It doesn't matter what you KNOW, but what you can PROVE". FSU just happened to be the one with the hand in the cookie jar this time.