Sunday’s Takeaway: USC Put Reggie’s Heisman Back Inside Heritage Hall

The NCAA’s Committee on Infractions is the gift that keeps giving back to the SEC.

Heck Y’all, if I were an SEC member, I would do everything in my power to keep the organization together.

I mean why not when…

There were hundreds of rules broken.

Football coaches voluntarily deliver Mcdonalds Happy Meal bags, filled with cash, to multiple players.

Heck, Y’all, the University of Tennessee even admitted to cheating by providing Houses, cars, and employment to current players and their families.

Last July[2022], the University of Tennessee received a Notice of Allegations regarding 18 violations against the football program during head coach Jeremy Pruitt’s time at the helm. It included an allegation of $60,000 in cash or gifts given to football recruits or players by Pruitt, his wife, numerous coaches, staff, and boosters.

These are not minor violations.

All of the violations are Level I and are considered the most severe infractions on the scale from one through four.

Compared to what USC was sanctioned for over the Reggie Bush scandal, you’d think that the Volunteers football program was about to be buried in sanctions higher than Rocky Top Mountain.

Nope.

Instead, the Trojans Family is forced to accept that it still pays to cheat if your school plays in a certain conference.

Maybe it’s just me.

I hate sounding cliche and saying art imitates life, however, there appears to be a double standard for some when crimes are committed.

And I have about 8 million examples of double standards from the NCAA that I can use to prove my point.

Please, someone, tell me! Where is the deterrent?

How do you “expect” folks born with common sense to believe that an organization and its leaders aren’t corrupt when they allow major crimes to be committed without significant consequences?

A quick review; The Trojans were given a 2-year bowl ban because one football player’s family was being induced to leave USC, and a tennis player used a coach’s office phone to call home. And there’s no need to say, “Tim Floyd and the USC basketball program,” because Coach Floyd was cleared of the accusations.

So just in case the loss from the bowl revenues wasn’t harsh enough, the NCAA made sure USC would miss future bowl games too. They accomplished that phase of the penalty by taking 30 scholarships over a 3-year period.

The NCAA’s idea was that, if the Trojans’ football program can’t perform and compete, equally, others will have a better chance to be successful.

It was the NCAA’s version of affirmative action.

However, let’s compare the penalties.

The Volunteers football program did receive an $8 million fine and were placed on probation for five years. And they’ll also lose 28 total scholarships over the duration of their probation. –Sounds reasonable until we start to peel back the layers.

Here’s one of those layer peeled back.

The loss of 8 million dollars to a program like Tennessee that collects money hand over fist, is like me losing $20 dollars on the ground. They’ll miss it for as long as it takes their boosters to make a financial commitment. The NCAA figures that is how much the school makes when they’re in a bowl game.

And you want to know why the loss of 28 scholarships over 5 years won’t have any teeth?

Because today the transfer portal exists.

So despite only being able to have 80 players on scholarship per season, the transfer portal’s ability to provide experienced players can make up for the loss of the high school recruits for Hosh Heupel’s team.

Remember, when the portal did not exist, and USC’s players were given permission to leave without having to sit out? Once that phase of the penalty set in, and by the time the Trojans arrived in South Bend for a game, there were only 65 scholarship players available.

How ironic would it be for the NCAA to use the Trojans’ suffering as the reason to never do that again to another football program?

Well, in January 2022, the NCAA adopted a new constitution with regulations that should ensure ‘to the greatest extent possible that penalties imposed for infractions do not punish programs or student-athletes not involved nor implicated in infractions. “Taking into consideration the board’s guidance and the school’s cooperation, the panel therefore declined to prescribe a postseason ban in this case.”

The NCAA knows its days are numbered, or it should be aware because its power is slipping.

The courts have already said college athletes can earn money off their name, image, and likeness.–Strike One.

Today schools are threatening the NCAA with lawsuits if they dare to impose a penalty for disciplinary reasons because they saw what happened at USC when you don’t fight back.

–Strike Two.

And the message on the streets is loud and clear. Miami, Tennessee, and other universities threatened lawsuits and that meant more bad exposure for an organization that is always in a bad light and making settlement payments.

–Strike Three!

Everyone has figured it out; Respecting the NCAA’s rules and process, you end up giving the NCAA the power they want and need.

And I’m all for rules and regulations when they’re handed out equally.

Just so no one is mistaken, I do not want to see players suffer a penalty for something they did not commit.

However, in order for a little justice to be felt by the Trojan Family, the NCAA should admit they punished USC unnecessarily, and the wins are being restored to the record books.

The University of Southern California needs to put its 7th Heiman Award Winner’s trophy back where it belongs because they’ve already paid the fine.

Besides, what’s the NCAA going to do now?

The post Sunday’s Takeaway: USC Put Reggie’s Heisman Back Inside Heritage Hall appeared first on On3.