NCAA Death Penalty? Perish The Thought

SMU is the famous benchmark for judging college football scandal, and to suggest UNC is in the same zip code, let alone on the same street is to diminish how bad things were in Dallas. Last December’s release of Pony Excess is likely still fresh in many people’s minds, but seemingly the context is lost.

Before anything concrete was released on OSU, I speculated if a sanction heavier than USC’s could be leveled, even going so far as to use the term “Death Penalty.” OSU is just a decade removed from serious basketball violations, and the scope of allegations being thrown OSU’s way was seemingly on par with the pay-for-play violations at SMU. Furthermore, Tressell’s knowledge of violations compounded the severity. Of course, the aforementioned new reports suggest matters aren’t as harsh as originally implied.

UNC is a much different scenario. The university hasn’t had a single NCAA violation brought against since 1961. Half-a-century. And while coach John Blake’s alleged involvement in wrongdoings raises a red flag, it’s more akin to the Todd McNair situation at USC. Overall, UNC is far more comparable to USC than SMU, if that. While the number of charges against Carolina is more, none of the allegations match the severity of Reggie Bush’s $100,000 in agent-provided benefits.

Chalk this up as the latest instance of off-season boredom that will take a backseat once play resumes.