The Ohio State football program should never follow a rule that the NCAA has ever again. They played by the rules too stringently back in 2011, and it cost them a shot to play for a national championship in 2012. Had they stuck to their guns, they could have won another title over Notre Dame.
On Friday, the NCAA showed that they are a toothless organization that will not punish cheaters in any meaningful way. Despite the NCAA saying that TTUN's violations would have necessitated a postseason ban in the past, they did not dish out one, saying it would punish current players who played no part in the scandal.
There is a clear message that the NCAA is sending with weak penalties like this. It's a message that the Ohio State Buckeyes should take to heart, including with NIL dealings. The message is that it's okay to cheat because they won't punish you in any way that deters repeated bad behavior.
The NCAA sends a message that the Ohio State football program should never follow the rules
As long as the NCAA holds some power in college football, the Buckeyes should never be truthful with them in any regard. Have kids take as many visits as they want. Send all the texts you can. Use any edge you can to beat your opponent, because it doesn't matter.
If the rampant cheating from Michigan and the worse cover-up aren't enough to get a team to vacate wins or postseason appearances, nothing will. The Buckeyes should just keep throwing money at recruits and using as much funding from collectives as possible, because nothing bad will happen.
This is the official end of programs being afraid of the NCAA for any reason. This ruling is going to be the end of any program cooperating with the NCAA in any sort of infractions probe, either. Connor Stalions threw his phone into a pond to avoid getting caught. Sherrone Moore deleted all texts from his phone. It doesn't matter!
The worst punishment that TTUN suffered is the acknowledgement from the NCAA that they forever cheated during their national title-winning season. TTUN is appealing the ruling because they have no shame. It's almost hard to blame them at this point.
The NCAA is worthless. If they didn't run the men's and women's basketball tournament, there would be no use for them at all in collegiate athletics.