Ole Miss gets additional penalties from NCAA
As expected, the Ole Miss football program received discipline from the NCAA on Friday.
As tends to be the case with the NCAA, it has taken some time to levy official sanctions on the athletic department and football program at Ole Miss for multiple rules violations. But school officials received 24-hour notice from the NCAA on Thursday, and the details came out as expected on Friday morning.
The school self-imposed a one-year postseason ban on the football program for this year, along with the loss of 11 scholarships over a four-year span from 2015-2018. That move has been taken into account by the NCAA, and Steven Godfrey of SB Nation has the full details.
The Ole Miss football program will get an additional year added to their postseason ban, with financial penalties that may include the forfeiture of its share of postseason revenue from the SEC similar to this year (possibly up to $7.8 million). More scholarships will be lost as well, with 13 over a period of years in addition to the 11 that were already self-imposed.
Every coach named in the NCAA’s investigation has been given a show-cause penalty, but that does not include current head coach Matt Luke.
Luke was named interim head coach after Hugh Freeze’s departure in July. After a 6-6 season, capped by an upset win over 14th-ranked rival Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving night, he was quickly named permanent head coach last weekend. The Rebels won three of their last four games, and of course became bowl-eligible with that sixth win, if not for their self-imposed postseason ban.
Related Story: 5 candidates to replace Hugh Freeze at Ole Miss
With the official penalty from the NCAA, added to the penalties they’ve given to themselves, Ole Miss can finally start to put the infractions from Freeze’s tenure in the rearview mirror. There will be lingering affects going forward, but Luke made the best of a tough situation this year and the school deserves credit to valuing some sort of continuity.