Summary Box: Why the NCAA ordered Notre Dame to vacate wins
WHAT HAPPENED: The NCAA says a student trainer who worked in Notre Dame's athletics department from fall 2009 through the spring of 2013 completed substantial academic work for two Fighting Irish football players and helped six others impermissibly.
WHAT'S THE PUNISHMENT: The NCAA ordered Notre Dame to vacate 12 wins from the 2012 season and nine more from 2013. It also levied a year of probation and a $5,000 fine.
WHAT DOES NOTRE DAME SAY: The school says it will appeal the order to vacate 21 wins, saying it is being punished for suspending the players from school and changing their grades while investigating the case instead of expelling them. The Rev. John Jenkins, the university president, said NCAA has previously only vacated victories when schools had "direct involvement or knowledge of a coach or academic personnel being involved. The school said that wasn't the case here.
WHY NCAA SAYS WINS SHOULD BE THROWN OUT: The NCAA contends the student trainer was an athletics department employee with special access to athletes and helped football players cheat. NCAA bylaws say that vacating wins is appropriate punishment when ineligible players participate in games.
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NCAA case: http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/former-notre-dame-student-trainer-acted-unethically-committed-academic-misconduct?sf43132124=1