One week after the N.C.A.A. maintained harsh penalties in the Southern California football infractions case, Ohio State’s football program will slide into focus as the latest test of whether the N.C.A.A. is serious about punishing and disciplining its most prosperous programs.
The Ohio State and the Southern California cases are drastically different in nature, but they intersect in a place where big-time college athletics appear to be spiraling out of control. Tressel’s resignation is the headline in a year that has had major investigations of the national champions of football (Auburn) and of men’s basketball (Connecticut).