Larry Brown Sports

Urban Meyer upset some Big Ten coaches by flipping some recruits to Ohio State on National Signing Day. A few notable Big Ten coaches felt Meyer had broken an unspoken agreement within the conference that coaches would not talk to recruits who had made verbal commitments. Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said what Meyer did was illegal. Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez found no fault in Meyer’s actions.

Meyer addressed the accusations Thursday and said they upset him.

“I was very angry,” Meyer said during an appearance on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland. “Whenever you use those terms, something like ‘illegal,’ that couldn’t be further from the truth. That doesn’t happen here, and if it did, we would make a change with whoever did it.

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Wisconsin has established itself as a force in the Big Ten the past two seasons. They’ve had back-to-back double-digit win seasons and have fought with the likes of Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa, and Michigan State for the top spot in the conference. Because of the close competition between the schools and what’s at stake, it irks Badgers coach Bret Bielema if one school has an advantage over the other because it’s cheating.

Asked about Jim Tressel’s departure from Ohio State during the conference’s media day Thursday, Bielema provided a blunt response.

“If I had a dream world, I would say hammer the guys who don’t do things right,” Bielema said. “When you are consciously aware of abusing a rule, there’s no excuse for that. When you consciously break an NCAA rule, the only way to deter that is to get rid of people or seriously hold people accountable.

“When I come across someone who’s knowingly or willingly (breaking a rule), I have no tolerance for that.”

Jim Tressel consciously broke NCAA rules by withholding knowledge of potential violations committed by his players. He knew the team would be in trouble without star quarterback Terrelle Pryor, so he decided to cover things up.

Wisconsin handed Ohio State its only loss last season so one could say justice was done on the field. By the sounds of things, that’s not enough retribution for Bielema.

We’re going to hang onto this nifty little quote in case Wisconsin ever gets popped. This is the exact sort of comment that can make you look foolish, much like this guy.