Amid an already horrifically ugly weekend for college football, the ten suspended Minnesota football players submitted their cases for exoneration before a university panel.
Following an incident in which a female student was allegedly sexually assaulted following the Gophers’ first home game of the season, the ten players were indefinitely suspended by the university. A Title IX investigation recommended expulsions for Ray Buford, Jr., Carlton Djam, KiAnte Hardin, Dior Johnson, and Tamarion Johnson, 1-year suspensions for Seth Green, Kobe McCrary, Mark Williams and Antoine Winfield, Jr., and probation for Antonio Shenault.
That action led to a protest by the team, where the Gophers threatened to boycott the Holiday Bowl. The players withdrew that threat, then went on to win the Holiday Bowl. However, the handling of that boycott contributed in head coach Tracy Claeys‘s firing.
Authorities declined to press charges, but the university continued forward with a code of conduct case against the ten.
The university presented its case in a 9-hour presentation on Thursday, according to the Associated Press, with the players following on Friday. The case was heard by a 3-person panel, where all that’s required is two of its members finding it “more than likely” a code of conduct violation was committed.