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In a spring that is ripe with news of numerous colleges being investigated for illegal deeds by the NCAA, the one that got the witch hunt started was Jim Tressel's mishandling of the information that led to Terrelle Pryor and four other Ohio State Buckeyes being suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season.
While we don't know for sure if Tressel's actions were deliberate or just a mistake that he has to pay for, fans of most other schools have not been afraid to let the venom fly.
The issue itself has been very controversial, and the Buckeyes as a whole have tried to dodge the topic during spring practices.
The amount of exposure in the Buckeye camp right now is either that of closely-knit CIA-esque paranoia or of a group that is sick and tired of talking about this story.
Unfortunately for them, until the NCAA Committee on Infractions meets, this problem won't be going away.
Tressel has come out and said that he has not had any intentions on stepping down from his position as head coach in a press conference last Wednesday.
The tough part is that if the NCAA views this situation severely enough, they can file a show-cause penalty, forcing Ohio State to prove that they have a credible reason for keeping Tressel on board despite this transgression.
However, cleveland.com posted a story about former Infractions Committee chairman Gene Marsh who said that Tressel's prior record may keep his school and himself from receiving extremely harsh penalties.
To his credit, Tressel and OSU as a whole have been good at reporting any possible violations to the NCAA over the past several years, better than most.
Whether or not that has any effect on what the NCAA will do remains to be seen, but it definitely can't possibly hurt them.
It may not help them all that much because self-reporting is what schools are supposed to do, not what they're encouraged to do.
But the cooperation on the part of the OSU investigation, though it may not be the easiest thing for the university to do, is the best thing they can do.
The penalties for being facetious and sticking the finger at the NCAA, such as what USC did in the Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo scandal, are far worse than telling the truth.
Expect Tressel to get hit with some pretty severe penalties because of the past precedent: 78 of the 81 coaches in violation of NCAA Bylaw 10.1 left as a result of the penalty.
But the issue has caused a rift in Buckeye Nation as well, with some fans who have disdain for Tressel as a strategist ready to give him the boot for someone like Urban Meyer.
Most normal Buckeye fans believe that while Tressel made a severe mistake, it in no way should cost Tressel his job.
The future of this situation is not known, and while this story is being pushed more to the back burner due to Will Lyles and the HBO-Auburn scandal, it's still pretty severe.
In the grand scheme of things though, it's much less of a problem than some of the other schools with recent news against them will have to deal with.
But nevertheless, Ohio State football has been shaken to its core without a doubt.
Whether in the end Jim Tressel receives a lighter sentence from the NCAA or not, the program will have to deal with this saga, not just now, but for several years down the road.
For more college football news, updates and information, visit The BCS Blitz and follow me on Twitter @bielik_tim.
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