The current gambling scandal that is involving athletics at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University is quite bizarre. Players from Iowa football, Iowa basketball, Iowa State football, Iowa State basketball and other sports have been accused of betting on games involving their teams. One Iowa State football player was recently caught betting against his own team in a game against Texas football. Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz recently offered some comments on the situation.

“I think the key point there is betting on our games, and that is, to me, it's a deal breaker if that is, in fact, proven to be true,” Ferentz said, according to an article from ESPN. “So, we'll deal with that when we get there. But, I think as we move forward, I think, at least in my opinion, it's been a learning process.”

No surprises there. It would be surprising to see any players involved in this scandal get a second chance as this is a clear and blatant violation of rules. The good news for Iowa is that it hasn't affected very much so far.

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“It's really not that big of a deal right now, quite frankly,” Ferentz said. “I'm not trying to be coy, but it just isn't. Noah is injured. He would be the most prominent player, to my knowledge, that's involved in this. Let's say he was 100 percent healthy, which he's not. If we got closer to games, that's something we'd have to weigh and measure.”

That's certainly an interesting perspective. Ferentz has made it clear that the type of behavior will not be tolerated, and it is a serious issue, but in terms of key players being affected, it sounds like the Hawkeyes are in good shape. It'll be interesting to keep an eye on this situation and see how it develops.