Ohio — When Ohio State basketball star E.J. Liddell came forward with details of the social media abuse he endured after an NCAA tournament loss, it spotlighted some fans’ hostile reactions towards high-profile athletes.
Ohio later became one of the first states to prohibit prop bets — which could ride on the stats or accomplishments of a single player — for college sports. The NCAA is encouraging more stats to enact the same limits.
The NCAA recently used Signify Group’s Threat Matrix artificial intelligence service to study and respond to online abuse towards athletes. Last week, the NCAA sent out a news release detailing what it called the “mental health nightmare” of threats and other abuse towards athletes from bettors. Among the statistics shared:
The NCAA said it has increased its education of student-athletes about both handling abusive threats and the risks of sports betting and problem gambling. It also launched the Draw the Line campaign at the start of March Madness.
Moving on
Ohio State baseball lost its regular-season finale to Rutgers on Saturday, but for the first time sine 2019, that was not also the regular-season finale.
The Buckeyes had already clinched a spot in this week’s Big Ten Tournament in Omaha. As the No. 7 seed, OSU opens against No. 2 seed Nebraska at 2 p.m. Tuesday. The winner and loser play either No. 4 seed Purdue or No. 5 seed Indiana in the double-elimination format.
Play it back
If you want to relive Ohjo State football’s spring game from April 13, the program posted a video retrospective on its x.com page.
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