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SMU won't appeal postseason ban or Larry Brown's suspension

SMU won't appeal postseason ban or Larry Brown's suspension

For all its tough talk when the NCAA handed down its penalties two weeks ago, SMU won't be fighting the most serious of them.

The Mustangs announced Friday afternoon that they will not appeal the postseason ban that will prevent them from participating in the 2016 NCAA tournament, nor will they try to get coach Larry Brown's 10-game suspension reduced.

"Although we regret the severe impact on our student-athletes, the simple fact is that the NCAA penalty structure mandates at minimum a one-year post-season ban for the level of misconduct that occurred," SMU president R. Gerald Turner said in a release. "In addition, should we appeal this matter, the lengthy process and uncertainty during this period could harm many aspects of the program. Coach Brown and his staff also agree that it is in the best interests of the program to accept these sanctions and move forward."

The decision not to appeal the postseason ban runs counter to what Turner initially hinted at during a news conference the day the penalties were announced. Several times, Turner acknowledged he was "troubled by the lack of postseason opportunity." Later he also confirmed there were several aspects of the penalty SMU intended to "consider, very seriously, appealing."

What SMU actually will appeal is the duration of its scholarship losses and the vacating of victories from the 2013-14 season due to the participation of former McDonald's All-American Keith Frazier. The NCAA deemed Frazier ineligible for those games due to help he received completing coursework necessary for him to become eligible to play for the Mustangs as a freshman.

In the report it issued on Sept. 29, the NCAA found that SMU assistant Ulric Maligi encouraged Frazier to enroll in an online course necessary for him to meet initial eligibility standards. Then a SMU administrative assistant obtained Frazier's username and password and completed his coursework, enabling him to play for the Mustangs as a freshman.

“The fact that NCAA violations happened on my watch is something that I regret and take very seriously," SMU coach Larry Brown said in a statement. "I am committed to winning with integrity and we must -- and we will -- do better. While the decision to not appeal our post-season ban was made in the best interests of the program, I am truly disappointed for our student-athletes who are the most impacted by the penalties and who had nothing to do with the infractions."

SMU continues to portray the administrative assistant as acting on her own, which strains the bounds of credibility even if the NCAA could not prove that either Brown or his staff was aware of the academic misconduct. Nonetheless, that's just semantics at this point because the penalties SMU received are plenty harsh regardless of the outcome of the appeal.

The postseason ban is the most painful in the short term because SMU returns three starters from last year's 27-win team and had been expected to spar with UConn and Cincinnati for first place in the American Athletic Conference. The scholarship penalties could be crippling in the long term as the Mustangs would not be allowed to have more than 10 scholarship players for three straight seasons.

SMU seniors Nic Moore and Markus Kennedy had been hoping to avenge a disappointing opening-round NCAA tournament exit last March made worse by a bogus game-changing goaltending call in the final seconds.

Now Moore and Kennedy will not have that chance. Barring a late transfer, the best either can hope for is a American Athletic Conference regular season title.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!