Big Ten boss foresees tough questions for OSU

Associated Press

CHICAGO

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany figures Ohio State is in for some tough questions as it tries to dig out from the scandal that cost football coach Jim Tressel his job.

“There will be a lot of hard questions for Ohio State,” Delany said Sunday. “I think they will give to the best they can to answer those questions. Then, the [NCAA infractions committee] will make a decision.”

Tressel, who guided Ohio State to its first national title in 34 years, resigned last Monday amid NCAA violations stemming from a tattoo-parlor scandal that left a big mark against one of the country’s top football programs.

A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 12, and Delany figures a decision will come about six weeks after that.

On a day when the Big Ten announced that Indianapolis will host the football championship through 2015 and rotate the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments with Chicago, the Tressel saga remained a dominant topic.

In December, five players — including star quarterback Terrelle Pryor — were found to have received cash and discounted tattoos from the owner of a local parlor who was the subject of a federal drug-trafficking case. The NCAA allowed them to play in a 31-26 victory over Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl, with their suspensions to start with the first game of the 2011 season.

After the team returned from New Orleans, school officials began preparing an appeal of the players’ sanctions. That’s when investigators found that Tressel had learned in April 2010 about their involvement with the parlor owner, Edward Rife.

Sports Illustrated, however, reported last week that at least 28 players were known or alleged to have traded or sold memorabilia in violation of NCAA rules. Pryor’s attorney has disputed the story, but either way, there appeared to be a major compliance breakdown.

Will Ohio State be eligible for the first football championship game? Will it be the Big Ten’s call or that of the NCAA?

Delany said it’s too soon to say, adding it is “going to play out the next couple of months between the institution and the NCAA.”

As for the selection of the championship sites, Indiana president Michael McRobbie said Indianapolis was a unanimous choice for football.

The inaugural title game will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in December, and the league’s presidents and chancellors voted Sunday to keep it there for four more years rather than go outside to Chicago’s Soldier Field.

“What we needed to do since it’s our first effort in the championship game is to get it off to a stable start, build a great foundation and try to launch from there,” Delany said.