Is Division-I college baseball heading towards another betting scandal? That’s the allegation being leveled by the Action Network in a recent posting suggesting that Iowa gaming regulators are looking into “potential violations” by members of the University of Iowa’s baseball team.
According to the Action Network, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission is investigating allegations of some sort of wrongdoing involving Iowa’s recent game/games against Ohio State.
Though the exact nature of the allegations is unclear, the scope of the investigation seems to go far beyond the Iowa baseball program. University officials report that they recently received a list of 111 university employees and affiliates who are involved with sports betting of some kind. That list includes 26 players from the baseball, football, men’s basketball, men’s track and field and wrestling teams, as well as an athletic department employee. Several members of the Iowa baseball team were also suspended from play late last week, but their names have not been made available.
Iowa’s baseball betting woes come on the heels of a separate college baseball betting scandal involving the University of Alabama. In that case, it appears that Tide coach Brad Bohannon,may have used insider information to gain an edge on wagers (that he shouldn’t have been making in the first place).
Though investigations are ongoing, Iowa gaming regulators have made it clear that they’re taking the situation very seriously. Iowa Gaming Commission Director Brian Ohorilko summed up the situation saying, “The commission takes the integrity of gaming in the state seriously and is continuing to monitor the situation and will provide any additional information when able.”
Whatever happens, it’s clear that many players and staff at the college level do not understand that sports betting, particularly on their own teams, is not acceptable to gaming regulators and the NCAA.