The Big Bad NCAA

The NCAA has been busy lately. Over the past few years there have been investigations at the University of Southern California, the University of North Carolina, Ohio State, Georgia Tech(as everyone found out yesterday), and Auburn, which is still being investigated. Those are just the schools with football and men's basketball being investigated. Schools like Boise State and Florida State have also been investigated by the NCAA for other sports. Yesterday, Georgia Tech was fined $100,000 and had to vacate their 2009 ACC Championship in Football. In the last few months, Ohio State has fired their head coach and had their star quarterback leave for the NFL Supplemental Draft, due to NCAA violations. UNC has a meeting with NCAA in Indianapolis in October to find out what exactly will happen with their football program. The NCAA seems to be busy but are they actually doing anything?

We have seen the NCAA crack down at USC where the Trojans forfeited wins from the 2004 and 2005 football seasons, lost 30 scholarships over several seasons and the program is currently facing a two-year postseason ban that will be completed after this season. USC has already reaped the awards of their 2005 National Championship that they ultimately had to forfeit. They have brought in big time recruits to their program and made money on merchandise based on winning the 2005 National Championship. Yes, that National Championship is tarnished in our eyes but where is USC hurt? In two years they will have all their scholarships back and be able to play in bowl games. The NCAA needs to start assessing fines, as it did with Georgia Tech, to hurt the schools where it will affect them the most, the wallet.

In October, UNC will probably have to vacate wins from the last few seasons and will be put under probation. There might be a loss of scholarships and other measures imposed, but just like the USC situation those will only last a few years. By dropping a fine on the athletic department, the University will be forced to control their coaches and players and make sure violations do not occur in the future. $100,000 for an athletic department is steep. Athletic departments are not designed to make money and many do not. Football and men's basketball do make money for most athletic departments but there are other sports that the departments must fund that do not bring enough money. By fining a school for their transactions will hurt, not only the football team, but the athletic department as a whole.

Is it fair to a female swimmer to be punished because a football player sold his game worn jersey for a tattoo? No it isn't. But we cannot just blame the football player, the athletic department needs to be held accountable as well. If large fines become a part of NCAA punishments, athletic departments will wake up and take notice of what is happening. Until then expect NCAA violations to continue to pop up every few months, giving college sports an unnecessary black eye.