NCAA flag planting: Is it unsportsmanlike, or part of the game?

Multiple cases of the post-game behavior led to fights

Moments after Michigan’s football team beat Ohio State 13-10 Saturday on the Buckeyes’ home field, emotions got out of control.

A Wolverine player carried a huge team flag and waved it while standing atop the OSU “O” at midfield. Then he planted it in an act viewed by many as unsportsmanlike. Teammates posed for the cameras.

Ohio State players wouldn’t allow the postgame celebration to continue without a response. So some of them charged the Michigan players to try to stop the flag waving.

Soon, law enforcement became involved. Pepper spray hit players from both teams.

As pathetic as the scene became, it was one of at least five Division I games that involved fights between players — three of them involved planting a flag by the victorious team.

Michigan’s “Official Team Store” is selling T-shirts and hoodies that mention the flag-planting episode. (Photo by John Naughton.)

*Both Michigan and Ohio State were fined $100,000 by the Big Ten Conference for violating the league’s sportsmanship policy.

*Florida beat Florida State, 31-11, then a fight broke out due to a flag planting event.

*North Carolina State defeated North Carolina, 35-30. After the game, another flag planting was followed by a fight between the teams. Both Atlantic Coast Conference schools were fined.

*South Carolina topped Clemson, 17-14. South Carolina fans stood atop the Clemson logo and “whipped” it using belts. Fights broke out between fans. South Carolina linebacker Debo Williams posed for a photo with fans, belt in hand.

*Virginia Tech beat Virginia, 37-17. This time, there was a fight before the game even started. Both ACC teams were fined by the conference.