SBNation is reporting that Terrelle Pryor, Devier Posey, Solomon Thomas, Daniel Herron, and Mike Adams have all been suspended by the NCAA for the first 5 games of next season for "selling" memorabilia, or trading it for ink. The items include Big 10 Conference Championship rings, Gold Pants, and a Fiesta Bowl Sportsmanship award. Players will be repaying the cost of the items, but will still play in the Sugar Bowl.

First, I'm shocked that the NCAA is actually doing anything. After the precedent they set with $cam Newton and his pops, I figured that you'd actually have to murder someone on the field to get in trouble these days. Trading signed gear for tattoos seems a little beneath even the Buckeyes. 

Next, I can't believe that the university won't be suspending these jack-wagons for the bowl game. The reason that I started following that program in the first place was the pageantry of the entire Ohio State Football experience, but I stuck around because I thought that since the Maurice Clarrett debacle, they had changed their ways and were actually a program with integrity. 

Prior is an idiot. Reference:

via assets.sbnation.com

Yeah, in championship rings and trophies, you tool. I had high hopes for this kid, but he runs his mouth far too much for the performance he actually gives. Where is Tressel while this kid is running his mouth on the internet?

Ohio State won't suffer much from this - their first five games next year are as follows:

via imgur.com

(Granted, Miami and Michigan State could be slightly problematic, but likely not.)

Finally, I'm sad. Between the Heisman, Auburn, Cam's dad, the Ducks and their Nike money, short goal posts, and tattoo-gate, this season has pretty much been the road of broken dreams - littered with dirty money, cocky players, and reaching out in to the horizon with an end point of the most corrupt system in choosing a champion for a bunch of "amateurs" that anyone can comprehend. 

This also makes me hopeful that the future of the sport lies with teams like BSU - with integrity, heart, drive, creativity, and talent - that make the rest of the country take notice that the game doesn't have to be like this. Seasons don't have to be like this one. Right now we could be in the thick of the playoffs, and instead we're pondering the consequences of cheering on The Team That Coulda Been. 

Happy holidays, Nuggies. Sleep well, knowing that we're fans of a team that includes a coach better than Tressel and a QB that is pretty much the exact opposite of Pryor.