The Big Ten Conference office today announced a one-game suspension and public reprimand of University of Iowa men’s basketball head coach Fran McCaffery for violating the Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy during the second half of Iowa’s game at Wisconsin on Jan. 5. In addition, the conference announced that the institution has been fined $10,000 as a result of the violation. The fine and suspension cannot be appealed.

The Big Ten determined that McCaffery’s actions toward the officials were in violation of Big Ten Conference Agreement 10.01, which states in part that "The Big Ten Conference expects all contests involving a member institution to be conducted without compromise to any fundamental element of sportsmanship. Such fundamental elements include integrity of competition, civility toward all, and respect, particularly toward opponents and officials." McCaffery will serve his one-game suspension on Jan. 9 against Northwestern.

"I want to again apologize to the University of Iowa, my players, staff and the tremendous Hawkeye fans for my emotional reaction during Sunday’s game," said McCaffery. "I regret my actions and accept the Big Ten Conference’s decision. I am ready to move on."

"Fran expressed his remorse and accepted responsibility from the first minute we talked on Monday morning, said UI Director of Athletics Gary Barta. "We accept the ruling of the Big Ten Conference and as a result Fran will not coach his team Thursday evening. We all look forward to putting the incident behind us. Our focus now is on Thursday night against Northwestern and the remainder of the conference season. Fran continues to have my full support moving forward."

In McCaffery’s absence, assistant coach Kirk Speraw will make the head coaching decisions during Thursday night’s contest.

Stay with HoopDirt for the latest college basketball coaching news and rumors.