The NCAA announced on Tuesday that the Louisville men’s basketball will be forced to vacate 123 victories from 2012-2015, including its 2013 national championship.
The sanctions stem from an investigation into a sex scandal that took place at the university in which strippers were hired to dance and perform sex acts for recruits. The NCAA ruled that the violations resulted in players participating in games while ineligible, and Louisville’s appeal was denied.
With the ruling, Louisville has become the first Division I college basketball team to vacate a national title. As you might expect, Twitter had some enthusiastic reactions to the news, most notably from people who mocked the infamous national championship tattoo that Pitino got in 2013.
#NeverForget pic.twitter.com/bDX9LBM7hl
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) February 20, 2018
Louisville’s banner is coming down. Cover up that tattoo, Rick. pic.twitter.com/7xYMUXThno
— Drew Franklin (@DrewFranklinKSR) February 20, 2018
IT HAS BEEN 11,649 DAYS SINCE LOUISVILLE'S LAST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.
— Not Jerry Tipton (@NotJerryTipton) February 20, 2018
“Hey Cal, did Louisville win the 2013 National Championship?”
Cal:pic.twitter.com/0igAFVU4wf
— Andrew Cassady (@AndCassady) February 20, 2018
Louisville fans, on the 2013 national championship they thought they won: pic.twitter.com/xeE2JsCZ1H
— Not Jerry Tipton (@NotJerryTipton) February 20, 2018
Retweet if you weren't alive during louisville's last national championship #BBN #L1C4
— Jay Lawless (@UKJayL) February 20, 2018
UNC fans hearing the Louisville news: pic.twitter.com/wuqGxsM3rm
— Joe S. (@TarHeelNation23) February 20, 2018
NCAA for the 2013 NCAA Louisville Tournament directs you to look at this gif pic.twitter.com/MrhCtBYs08
— Frank Fleming (@NjTank99) February 20, 2018
Some felt the punishment was too harsh:
Remember: 20 years of academic fraud by UNC – cool in the NCAA's eyes. But using Cinnamon and Destiny to get a kid to commit to Louisville – TAKE DOWN THE BANNER!!!
— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) February 20, 2018
So if the Louisville MBB team has to give up its 2013 National Championship, then who becomes National Champion. Nobody? I've always thought vacating wins-titles was pretty stupid, and this is from a man in favor of harsh punishments for cheating.
— James Bowman (@JBowman_ATL) February 20, 2018
Louisville program is finished. Vacated their national title? Does that make Michigan the champion with an asterisk? Vacating wins from 2011-2015, the punishment is too harsh.
— ????tony3di (@Tony3di) February 20, 2018
Not a huge fan of Ncaa making Louisville “vacate” their 2013 title. Like what even is that punishment, so Michigan won now or something even though they didn’t? Haha. Just think I need to see a punishment more creative than “you didn’t win the title anymore even tho you did”.
— Connor Bennett (@Connormb13) February 20, 2018
Again, this punishment stems from stripper parties that were held for Louisville players and recruits. The scandal is separate from an FBI investigation into Louisville allegedly funneling money to top recruits in exchange for commitments, so this could just be the tip of the iceberg.
