The Louisville Cardinals are no longer the 2013 NCAA champions. ESPN reported Tuesday morning that the U of L men’s basketball program will have to vacate the 2013 title, as well as the 2012 appearance in the Final Four as a result of the NCAA denying Louisville’s appeal of the penalties that were handed down due to the investigation into allegations that a former staff member was involved in arranging parties with strippers to entertain recruits in a time period ranging from 2011 to 2015.
Louisville becomes the fist team in the era of the Final Four to have to give up a national championship.
The penalties were first announced back in June, and included vactating the basketball records from games in which ineligible athletes participated from December 2010 to July 2014. ESPN reports the penalties affect 123 regular season wins, 15 NCAA tournament wins, the 2012 Final Four and the 2013 national title. The Cardinals have also been placed on four years probation.