Michigan State Is Cleared By The NCAA, Which Continues To Be Great At Being Inconsistent

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Some major news here as it seems the Michigan State saga has come to an end in terms of the NCAA. After the Larry Nassar news broke and there was an Outside The Lines and a Detroit Free Press investigation with the basketball and football teams at Michigan State, the NCAA sent a letter of inquiry to the school. That’s pretty standard and should be done whenever something like this happens.

It led to the resigning of Mark Hollis, the then Athletic Director of the school. Again, I don’t think anyone really argue that the AD should resign in this situation as Michigan State was a pretty big shitshow back in January.

Here comes the ultimate question though and ultimately proves the NCAA just simply can’t be consistent. What was their investigation truly of? If it was of Nassar, how does Michigan State not face a similar penalty like Penn State with Sandusky? If it was of sexual assault/rape allegations into the football and basketball teams, what did they find? Was it nothing? Was it proven false and if so shouldn’t the original reports come out different? Did they ultimately find something but couldn’t punish the program because it’s the NCAA? That’s what I’m curious about and not sure if we’ll get the full story on it.

Here’s the bigger problem though. When the NCAA sent the inquiry, Michigan State responded

Nassar’s conduct was “abhorrent and a violation of every standard of conduct expected”, it didn’t violate NCAA rules.

The school argued that the bylaw cited by the NCAA in its original letter, regarding schools’ commitment to student-athlete well-being, “serves as a guide for Division I members and is not subject to enforcement procedures” and that NCAA “case precedent likewise does not support a finding of an NCAA rule violation by Nassar.” It also pointed out that Nassar was never specifically employed by the Michigan State athletic department and worked with athletes on a contract basis.

Uh, what? That’s some bullshit on any level from both the NCAA and Michigan State. What is the NCAA exactly doing here if this isn’t some sort of violation – again, the inconsistency when you look at Penn State, Baylor, etc. How is this not a NCAA violation? If not, how do you not change the rulebook to somehow incorporate these heinous crimes to do so. I guess being consistent is a bit too much to ask for, silly me.

Or you know, UNC had players suspended for selling their own gear. Think about that for a second. Selling your own gear is a violation in the eyes of the NCAA. What happened at Michigan State is not a violation. Sure, because that makes sense. Just update the rulebook already and use some common sense this time around.

While the NCAA investigation is closed, the Michigan Attorney General’s office is still investigating the school in regards to Larry Nassar.