Dennis Thomas, the vice chair of the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions and the acting chair for the FSU academic fraud case, is speaking on a teleconference right now.

Thomas was one of five people who heard the case. He said FSU committed "major violations."

"This case is extremely serious because of the large number of student-athletes involved and because academic fraud is considered by the committee to be among the most egregious of NCAA infractions," Thomas said.

He said the online exams in the music course were not administered in a structured environment. He also said that FSU's academic advising services department was not supervised in a consistent manner.

Posted at 3:25: Thomas was asked whether any consideration was given to Bobby Bowden's all-time wins total, and Thomas responded that Bowden's record was not a consideration when the committee made its findings.

Posted at 3:27: Thomas was asked about how many games each sport will have to forfeit. His answer was unclear. It's important to know largely to see where Bowden's all-time wins total stands. An NCAA spokeswoman clarified that it's FSU's job to determine whether ineligible students participated in an intercollegiate event. Anytime ineligible students participated in an intercollegiate event, the school must vacate wins from those games. Then, the school must report those findings to the NCAA.

Posted at 3:30: An NCAA spokeswoman clarified the difference between forfeitures and vacating games and records. Vacating records means that FSU will lose wins or records, but that the opponents' records from those games will not change.

Posted at 3:33: Thomas called this a "very difficult case," largely because of the number of athletes involved.

Posted at 3:34: Thomas was asked whether FSU has given any indication that it wants to appeal. "You have to ask Florida State that," Thomas said. "They have an appropriate time to appeal after we finish the press conference today."

Posted at 3:42: Thoomas acknowledged that the Committee had no evidence that FSU played ineligible athletes it knew to be ineligible. Earlier in the call, Thomas praised FSU for cooperating with NCAA enforcement officials.

Posted at 3:46: The question-and-answer period has ended. An NCAA spokeswoman said no one from the NCAA will make any further comment about the case.

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Pending any appeals by Florida State or any amendments by the NCAA, this is how the summary record of the academic fraud investigation will be recorded in the NCAA's major infractions database:

Institution: Florida State University
Date: 06-MAR-09

Violation Summary: Violations of NCAA legislation involving three former University Athletics Academic Support Services staff members (including a former learning specialist) who gave improper assistance resulting in academic fraud to numerous student-athletes representing multiple sport programs. There were also associated violations relating to the provision of impermissible benefits and a failure to monitor by the institution.

Penalty Summary: Additional penalties imposed by the committee were as follows: public reprimand and censure; four years of probation (the institution had proposed a period of two years); additional limits in the number of grants-in-aid in football, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's track and field, baseball, softball and men's golf; vacation of all records in which the 61 student-athletes competed while ineligible during 2006 and 2007 in the sports of football, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's track and field, baseball, softball and men's golf; show-cause order for the former learning specialist for a period of four years; show-cause order for the former tutor for a period of three years; show-cause order for the former academic advisor for a period of five years; annual compliance reporting required.

OUCH!!!