The NCAA is reconsidering its gambling penalties for those who don’t wager on their own teams, and it could mean reduced sanctions — or perhaps none at all — for some of the Iowa and Iowa State athletes involved in the state’s sports wagering investigation. 

On Wednesday, the NCAA announced that its Division I council — at the request of the Collegiate Commissioners Association — has directed the D1 committee on student-athlete reinstatement and legislative committee “to reexamine the legislation and application of reinstatement guidelines for student-athletes who engage in sports wagering.”

The committee is expected to review and finalize its recommendations by mid-October before a council coordination committee vote at the end of the month. The ruling could be applied retroactively to those who are facing loss of eligibility. 

In August, Iowa announced that 11 current student-athletes were facing a loss of eligibility after being involved in the state Division of Criminal Investigation’s sports gambling probe. The news release came roughly three months after the school revealed that at least 26 student-athletes in five sports, including wrestling, were under investigation. The school has not released the identities of those involved or their punishments, citing privacy laws. 

In May, the NCAA modified its sports wagering reinstatement guidelines for all violations reported on or after May 2, ruling that student-athletes who bet on their own games, knowingly provide information to those involved in sports betting or wager on other sports at their school could potentially face permanent loss of eligibility. The guidelines also took into consideration the cumulative dollar value of wagers. 

The NCAA is apparently considering a three-strike policy for those who don’t wager on their own teams. 

Here are the proposed punishments, according to the NCAA release: 

— On a first offense, eliminate penalties that result in student-athletes being withheld from competition — regardless of the dollar value of the wagers and including bets placed on other sports at a student-athlete's school — and require education on sports wagering rules and prevention. 

— On a second offense, potentially involve withholding penalties, depending on the dollar value of the bet(s) in question.

— On a third or subsequent offense, resulting penalty could be a loss of one full season of eligibility.