How come more schools aren't getting into trouble with the NCAA?

Look at the trend, these guys in most cases did these stories then got the heck out of town. Folks that did stay were threatened with bombs and shots fired through windows.

I'm not advocating one way or the other. I'm just pointing out that people are nuts!

 

Nothing to add to a very informative and interesting thread. Threads like this are why I kill so much time at work on this site.

 

Comparing SMU to Kentucky is like comparing apples and bowling balls. Kentucky is a national powerhouse basketball program with a rabid statewide following. SMU is a tiny private school with narrow (albeit deep) alumni support that competes with nine other Division I-A schools in the state.

A lot of the media people who helped bring down SMU, especially Dale Hansen, is alive and well and stayed working in the Metroplex for many, many years -- at least until, sadly, the Times Herald folded.

 

A long time ago I got a tip that began an investigation of the hometown college's men's basketball team. Had highly placed boosters (and insiders) not helped almost from the start, it would have stalled and never run (for reasons I won't go into here). It finally did, and the fallout was significant. The whole coaching staff was let go, and the program had two years of sanctions. I did 95 percent of the digging on my own time and never got paid for about 60 hours of work on the biggest story in the sports section all year. That's a long story, and one I won't detail here either.

The whole thing could be a book. If only I weren't having to field "Where are the JV results" calls and draft a policy about bowling scores.

 

I remember reading something after the whole Albert Means scandal happened when it was suggested by some that Alabama face the death penalty and someone from the NCAA said something to the effect of, "We don't plan on ever doing something like that again." and basically said, although not directly that giving SMU the death penalty was something it deeply regretted.

If there is an equivalent to SMU today, it's Auburn. Although it can be argued that Auburn's top booster has a lot more power than Sherwood guy ever did at SMU.

 

And it's not like this wasn't true until a year ago. It's been true for YEARS.

 

I mentioned this on another thread but if Baylor hoops only got "half" a death penalty (no non-conference games for one season) for all the shit Dave Bliss pulled then nobody will receive the death penalty again.

Baylor hoops was much less relevant when it got nailed than SMU football was when it was shut down.

 

If by its own admission the NCAA found its most severe penalty TOO severe, then it's hard to see what's the fuss over rules violations to begin with. The show must go on is the NCAA's official policy. Knowing that, the rationalization for breaking rules gets powerfully strong.

 

I'd love it if the NCAA just started popping up on college campuses and started checking on the cars the athletes drive. I know people would claim it was a violation of privacy, but if you don't have anything to hide, why would it bother you.

I know this wouldn't prevent anything. I know they would just have to get more creative to funnel the money to the kids, but why should we make it easy for them to cheat?

It's always interesting to drive out to a recruit's house and see that he lives below the poverty line and how his mother struggles to take care of her six kids and then see the kid show up on campus in an Escalade.

 

Bingo. Never again will the NCAA come down so hard in a way that cripples one of its own dues-paying members.

The only reason the NCAA is going to come down hard on anybody is because other members have determined that a certain member is going beyond the pale. That's it. The membership itself doesn't have a problem with using its own rulebook (written by college presidents more than college coaches) as toilet paper, as long as no one uses too much of the roll.

 

It also seems like it's been awhile since the NCAA has been banning teams from TV. I remember they did that to Houston the year Andre Ware won the Heisman. A bowl ban and cutting scholarships hurts, but so does keeping a team off TV.