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  1. #1

    Is NCAA afraid of the SEC?

    I didn't want to post this too close to the April 1st article, but I am wondering if the NCAA is afraid to sanction SEC teams out of fear the SEC might create its own governing organization. The SEC obviously is the dominant college football conference and culturally and philosophically is not focused on academics. Football already is largely independent courtesy of the lawsuit by Oklahoma and SEC member Georgia. Even before the Supreme Court decision, the CFA was attempting to add basketball and replace the NCAA as the governing body for major college sports(plans were floated to change its name to the CSA). As has become painfully clear, football is the dominant factor in generating revenue and thus the dominant force in college athletics.

    What leads to my speculation is the NCAA's utter failure to take action against either Auburn or Kentucky when the dominant player on respective National Championship teams had their services put up for auction by unscrupulous family members and street agents. The Cam Newton case at least resulted in a one day suspension, while the even higher price sought for Anthony Davis was ignored completely. The Davis family and Kentucky did have the good grace to threaten a lawsuit over the story that the price for Davis was 200K, but of course did not dare risk having testimony taken under oath. This does not even include the past failure to take action over Bledsoe's academic ineligibility.

    I am not sure if the differing treatment of other schools from other conferences strengthens or weakens the suspicion. The biggest school actually sanctioned is Ohio State which is SEC like, but while Ohio State did receive sanctions, it was the press which brought forward that Tressel was not just a cheat, but a liar, leaving the NCAA little choice. In addition, the Big 10 does have multiple serious academic institutions and is not the Situational Ethics conference. Clearly, the NCAA is not afraid of the barely surviving Big 12, as the treatment of PJ3 for his family taking money to avoid eviction from an AAU coach compared to the lack of action against either Auburn or Kentucky for taking a player who had "Buy it Now" beside their name on E-bay.

    The NCAA is aware that just as they lost football, they could lose basketball. While there is much talk about the small schools making March Madness magic , does anyone really think that the BCS schools could not make more money by creating their own post season national champion? Just as the CFA pitched itself as stopping a college athletics welfare state, the SEC could demonstrate that the big schools would make more by going their own way on basketball instead of letting the NCAA allocate the money. The SEC seems the most likely to lead such a charge, and everyone recalls how many pundits predicted 4 16 team conferences. It will be interesting to see if the NCAA will be willing to pursue revocation of this Final 4 if the dirt Cal carries with him like Pig Pen again comes to light.

  2. #2
    The NCAA is motivated by one thing - money. They are afraid of anything that might cost them even a few dollars. They are an association dedicated to the corporatization of college athletics, and to keeping it the multi-billion dollar industry it is. That they care more about the SEC than any other conference is silly - they care about one thing - money.

    Some people think they care about student athletes. Those people also believe that the Loch Ness Monstor is Big Foot's cousin.

    I love college sports - until I think about them too much.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Quote Originally Posted by allenmurray View Post
    I love college sports - until I think about them too much.
    You can say that again.

    I like joking about UK, referring to them as "later vacated"... but unless there is a video of Davis receiving cash directly from Calipari, nothing is going to happen to this title. Look at last year's winner... who got to have their sanctions *after* last year's tournament. So I'm not sure the video would be enough. Calipari would also have to be caught on film violating Emmert's dog before they'd do something.

  4. #4
    Cam Newton never did anything wrong and is the greatest thing to ever happen to sports.

    I definitely see how the NCAA could potentially be skeptical of punishing the SEC, but I find it hard to believe that they wouldn't institute sanctions like they do to other schools. That being said, SEC football appears to be the most corrupt thing in sports, and none of those schools to my knowledge have been given penalties like USC, and certainly not the death penalty like SMU

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Dukehky View Post
    Cam Newton never did anything wrong and is the greatest thing to ever happen to sports.

    I definitely see how the NCAA could potentially be skeptical of punishing the SEC, but I find it hard to believe that they wouldn't institute sanctions like they do to other schools. That being said, SEC football appears to be the most corrupt thing in sports, and none of those schools to my knowledge have been given penalties like USC, and certainly not the death penalty like SMU
    Ohio State and UNC both had significantly worse violations than Southern Cal, and yet both got off with lighter punishments. The Miami situation will be interesting as well. Based on the allegations you could make a case for the death penalty.

    The SEC has a bad reputation but UNC, Miami, and Ohio State have been caught committing more major offenses. Add in Clemson's major scandal in the early 80s and the ACC has its share of bad offenses too. Just because Duke and Wake are clean doesn't mean the rest of the ACC is.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    San Francisco
    Quote Originally Posted by ns7 View Post

    The SEC has a bad reputation but UNC, Miami, and Ohio State have been caught committing more major offenses. Add in Clemson's major scandal in the early 80s and the ACC has its share of bad offenses too. Just because Duke and Wake are clean doesn't mean the rest of the ACC is.
    The question here is, of course, how many of the suspicions surrounding guys like Newton and Davis are actually really? If significant amounts of money actually did change hands to acquire players for specific teams, then that would be far bigger than anything at UNC, Ohio St., or Southern Cal. Honestly, though, without any definitive proof, I don't think there's any reason to assume anything, even if everything Calipari touches eventually attracts suspicion.

  7. #7
    I don't think anyone disputes that Cecil Newton sought at least 120K for Cam's services, the argument Auburn made was that there was no proof Cam authorized the attempt to get paid. In the Bizarro world of the NCAA PJ3's family taking less than 2K in a loan to not get evicted did justify a multi game suspension. The disparate treatment is what is curious to me and makes me wonder if the NCAA is running scared from the SEC. It is unlikely that a title would be stripped unless someone confesses, so Cal and the Cheaters probably are safe this time.

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