The torturous drip, drip, drip continues as the NCAA looks into possible wrongdoing around the Ohio State University football program. What first emerged last December as individual violations by a handful of players have since brought down the head coach who tried to cover up their misdeeds and now, for the first time, have morphed into an investigation of institutional wrongdoing.

That invites not only more severe penalties, but added scrutiny when the NCAA Infractions Committee meets next month.

In their latest response to the NCAA, Ohio State officials last week acknowledged that they had failed to properly monitor the activities of Cleveland area booster Bobby DiGeronimo ….

OSU also informed the governing body that it was giving up at least five football scholarships and that President Gordon Gee had reprimanded Athletics Director Gene Smith ….

For his part, DiGeronimo — who earlier refused to meet with NCAA investigators — said Smith and former football coach Jim Tressel were lying and trying to make him a scapegoat.

In a statement to The Plain Dealer, the longtime Buckeye booster said that he had letters that could embarrass OSU but that he would not make them public. Why not just wave a scarlet-and-gray cape in front of the NCAA?

As the football season winds down, Ohio State is likely to begin searching for Tressel’s permanent replacement.

Uncertainty about possible future revelations or sanctions won’t help. The sooner this ends, the better.

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer