[Strikeout King]

The NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee has upheld the decision to penalize Florida State for academic cheating, meaning retired football coach Bobby Bowden's record has been stripped of 14 victories.


The NCAA made the announcement Tuesday but made no mention of Bowden's record.


Bowden coached the Seminoles for the last time in the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl, a 33-21 victory over West Virginia on New Year's Day.


The 80-year-old Bowden would finish with 375 victories in a coaching career that spanned 57 seasons, the last 34 in Tallahassee.
A call to Bowden from ESPN.com was not immediately returned.


Florida State still must certify which games ineligible players competed to determine the number of wins and individual records that will be nullified.


The university, which self-reported the violations to the NCAA, accepted self-imposed penalties including loss of scholarships and player suspensions.


But the NCAA's intent to take away wins and individual records prompted Florida State president T.K. Wetherell to fight that part of the penalty.


"The cooperative efforts of the university clearly did not outweigh the aggravating factors in this case -- the nature, number, scope and seriousness of the violations," the committee said in a statement.


In March 2009, the committee issued an infractions report that included findings of academic fraud affecting more than 60 Florida State student-athletes across 10 sports. The findings included impermissible benefits, unethical conduct by three former academic support services staff members and a failure to monitor by the university.


The sports programs, other than football, involved were men's and women's basketball, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's track, baseball, softball and men's golf.




[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4797662"]Florida State Seminoles penalty upheld; Bowden stripped of 14 wins - ESPN[/ame]