knapplc
International Man of Mystery
Last year wasn't a good indicator of the impact of the penalty. You won't really see that for a couple of years, maybe five or so. They're still playing with Carroll's Criminals out there. Wait until they're playing with the leftovers Kiffin can grab after his schollies are used up, and see where that gets him. He's going to have a hard time convincing top QBs to come play behind a makeshift line of walk-ons. Or maybe he cuts his losses on skill positions, or special teams guys, or in the secondary. That team is going to be sputtering for a while.Look at USC last year. I can't remember if they were ranked, but if they were, it was higher then 20. I can see OSU doing the same.
Same goes for Ohio State. They'll have nearly the same team this year that they had last year, with reasonable losses to graduation/Tattoo-gate. Five years from now, after another recruiting cycle has passed, is when they're going to be relying on walk-ons. That's your true impact.
On top of that, who do you convince to come coach for you when you're going to hire a guy who's walking in the door down 30-40 scholarships? You're going to have to throw a TON of cash at a coach to get him to come and not play in a bowl game, and recruit against those penalties.
The post-season ban is huge, too. That's another few weeks of practice per year you don't get - and you probably remember how that affected Nebraska when we didn't make bowls during the Callahan era.
I don't think people get how big of a deal this is. OSU is set for a pretty hefty penalty here. This is not remotely like the few months of upheaval you have when you fire a coach. It's like the Callahan Era with zero chance of bowls and 1/3 as good of players. No Suh, no Ganz, no Helu, no BK, because none of these guys are going to play for a team that can't showcase them.