Florida President unsure of what to do with Ohio State
By VERN JACKSON
Gainesville Sun Staff Writer
April 4, 2007
GAINESVILLE – In the wake of Florida's unprecedented dual championship victories over Ohio State, the University finds itself with a unique and somewhat perplexing problem.
What to do with Ohio State now that Florida owns it.
According to little known and never before used "Clause 121" of the NCAA charter, when a University defeats another member University for two consecutive national championship games by "convincing margins", the defeated University becomes the sole property of the victor.
University of Florida President J. Bernard "Bernie" Machen readily admits that he was unaware of "Clause 121", and is unsure of what to do with Ohio State. "They have, what is it, over 54,000 students? Plus, it's in Columbus, Ohio. It is very inconvenient."
The University of Florida Board of Trustees is holding an emergency meeting this Friday to deal with the unprecedented situation. According to sources on the Board, initial ideas include –
Sell It – The easiest move the Board might make is simply to sell Ohio State. However, due to the University's size, and its location in the relatively depressed real estate market of central Ohio, it may be difficult to find a willing buyer. "We are looking into this option," Machen says. "We have contacted the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio to see if they need more land."
Keep It – This option has several difficulties, but may be the only one if Florida is unable to get a buyer for fair market value. Primary among the difficulties is the large student body population of Ohio State. However, sources on the Board did say since OSU's student population is near Florida's 50,000, there may be a situation where Ohio State students could be lent to Florida students on a semester by semester basis as personal valets.
Florida junior Kevin Young thinks the valet idea is just swell. "Everyone should have their own pet Buckeye," said Young. "It would be like having your own personal fraternity pledge. I think the idea rocks!"
Were Florida to keep Ohio State, issues of whether to allow OSU to keep their current team name and mascot, as well as whether to allow them to continue to play in the Big Ten, would have to be resolved. Says Machen, "I think we could reach some sort agreement that would allow them to keep Brutus Buckeye and play in the Big 10. After all, what would we do – move them to the SEC? They would only get hurt. Since they are our wards now, we could never allow that."
The prospect also exists that Florida would have dissolve Ohio State athletics. In that case, the issue of what to do with the student athletes is uncertain. Florida football coach Urban Meyer, when approached with the prospect of having to absorb Ohio State's football team, paused for a moment and said, "I suppose they could be a scout team for our scout team. They really aren't fast enough for anything else."
Finally, there is one other idea University officials have floated, and that is simply to donate Ohio State to charity. "As I understand it, thousands of Hurricane Katrina refuges are still displaced. We could give OSU to the Katrina Relief Fund, and allow people to relocate there," Machen said. "That could be the win-win situation everyone is looking for."
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