The move marks the first time that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which regulates the big business of university sports in the United States, has forced a Division I basketball team to relinquish a championship.
The penalty is the result of an NCAA probe that found that a former Louisville assistant coach had organized “sex parties” for recruits, rendering them ineligible.
Louisville appealed but the NCAA’s Infractions Appeals Committee on Tuesday upheld a ruling that the men’s basketball team, one of the most storied squads in the country, must give up 123 victories between 2011 and 2015.
This includes the 2013 championship and an appearance the previous year in the tournament semifinals known as the “Final Four.”