The Eastern Washington University football team will be eligible for postseason play after the NCAA on Tuesday reversed a ban it issued in February.

Athletic director Bill Chaves said the decision means the Eagles will be eligible for the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, should they qualify.

Other penalties issued in February, including the loss of two scholarships and one assistant coach, will remain in effect. The penalties occurred between 2003-07 under former coach Paul Wulff.

“We are grateful that our student-athletes, especially our senior class, will have the opportunity to potentially play for a postseason berth,” Chaves said.

Eastern is 5-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big Sky Conference, and would likely need to win its final three games to be selected for the playoffs.

“It gives our players hope,” said coach Beau Baldwin. “But we do have to take care of business to give us an opportunity to possibly be selected.”

Wulff, now the coach at Washington State, said the post-season ban was not warranted in the first place because it penalized the current players for a series of relatively minor past offenses.

“I think that (reversal) brings things back to where it should have been from day one,” Wulff said.

The ban was appealed by EWU shortly after it was issued in February.

Eastern plays at Southern Utah on Nov. 14 and Northern Arizona on Nov. 21, one day before the first-round playoff pairings are announced.

Eastern Washington has appeared in the playoffs six times: 1985, 1992, 1997, 2004, 2005 and 2007.

Eastern appealed just the postseason ban and not the other penalties, most of those were self-imposed.

The NCAA looked into a series of secondary rule violations, which, taken in total, led to a major infractions case.

The university originally self-reported the violations to the NCAA in February 2007..

Extra points

Oklahoma State says star wide receiver Dez Bryant will remain suspended for the remainder of the football season. He will be eligible to play in September 2010. … Police charged a 21-year-old man with murder in the stabbing death of Connecticut cornerback Jasper Howard outside a school-sanctioned dance. John William Lomax III is scheduled to appear in court today on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit assault in the Oct. 18 death of Howard, police said. His bond was set at $2 million. Police also arrested two other people in connection with the fight that led to Howard’s death. … Minnesota star wide receiver Eric Decker will miss the rest of the regular season because of a sprained left foot, but he may return if the Gophers make a bowl game. … Stanford left tackle Allen Smith will miss four to six weeks with a sprained right knee, a tough break for the sixth-year senior who was sidelined the past two seasons with serious left knee injuries. … Boston College quarterback Justin Tuggle, who started the first three games, and running back Josh Haden have decided to transfer. … The NCAA’s bid to delay a court order to release its records on academic cheating at Florida State was rejected by the Florida Supreme Court. … Michigan sophomore cornerback Boubacar Cissoko has been kicked off the team after getting suspended three weeks ago by head coach Rich Rodriguez.