Laughable NCAA enforcement strikes again

[PeteFox]

Current NCAA rules and penalty guidelines require a one- or two-year postseason ban for a Level I-standard case," the NCAA said Friday. "However, in January 2022, NCAA members adopted a new constitution that states divisional regulations 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.'

So Tennessee has 18 (18!) major level I violations, and was sanctioned with a fine and meaningless probation. No bowl ban.

NCAA gives the serious cheaters another escape hatch.....cheat like crazy for a couple of years, get caught, delay, appeal, delay, investigate, fire the coach until all miscreants are gone or transferred, and get a slap on the wrist. Bad Boys!

Just like the North Carolina academic farce.

There are no rules.

P.S. Actually,, that's wrong. There are rules, there are just no meaningful consequences for breaking them.

[commadore]

I am not an expert, but I wouldn't call these "nothing."

1. Pay fines, including $8 million, 50% of gross revenue paid to SEC for UT's participation in the 2020 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl under Pruitt, $5,000 plus 3% of football budget
2. Vacate all wins and individual records in any game in which 16 individual sanctioned players participated. Those games will be announced later.
3. Cut 28 scholarships from its roster over five years. UT has already self-imposed 16 scholarships cuts over the past two seasons.
4. Cease communication with recruits for 28 weeks spread over five years.
5. End unofficial visits by recruits for 40 weeks over five years.
6. Cut 36 official visits by recruits over five years.
7. Cut 120 evaluation days over five years.

[FayetteDore]

NCAA gives the serious cheaters another escape hatch.....cheat like crazy for a couple of years, get caught, delay, appeal, delay, investigate, fire the coach until all miscreants are gone or transferred, and get a slap on the wrist. Bad Boys!

You left out this part Pete (from Knox News):

Most of the penalties come as no surprise to UT. In October 2021, UT (the defendant) and the NCAA enforcement staff (prosecutor) agreed on a plea bargain for its portion of the case, according to documents obtained by Knox News through an open records request. The agreement included no postseason ban. But the NCAA Committee on Infractions (the judge and jury, so to speak) denied the deal and opted to drag out the process. It wanted to go to a hearing and consider a postseason ban for the sake of precedent. Ultimately, the penalties that the NCAA revealed were similar to the ones UT negotiated with NCAA enforcement staff in the original plea bargain almost two years ago."

UT agreed to essentially the same deal 2 years ago but the NCAA drug it out, NOT UT.


UT should never have hired a coach from Rainsville Alabama, who played at Alabama, who coached at Alabama, and who loves Alabama above all else.

[PeteFox]

A mere bagatelle. Producing a recent 11-2 record is well worth the price.

[FayetteDore]

A mere bagatelle. Producing a recent 11-2 record is well worth the price.

The guy whose infractions resulted in those substantial penalties could never have gone 11-2. If he'd stayed, they might have gone 2-11 though. How he he managed to go 2-1 against Vandy is a mystery to me.

I DO feel sorry for his wife though.

[Junnah]

I guess we’ll see if 2-1 sticks when the ineligible players and forfeits get announced.

[FayetteDore]

Alabama had 21 on-the-field wins vacated in 2005–2007, and 8 wins and 1 tie forfeited in 1993, due to NCAA sanctions.

All those wins still show up on the official Alabama football website and media guide as wins, including the scores. A small footnote at the bottom notes the number of forfeits.

[Johnmn555]

Vacate wins. NOT THAT! Do we have an over .500 lifetime record against 'bama after vacated wins?

Would you feel any better about, say, our 2005 loss to FLA if a few years later FLA's win was "vacated" due to some NCAA infraction?

[AuricGoldfinger]

So I've been thinking about the $8 million fine by the NCAA on Tennessee football...

Jeremy Pruitt's buyout was $12.6 million. So, in effect, by cheating and then getting caught UT got a better coach and saved $4.6 million.

We need to come up with better penalties.

[DonYates]

I am not an expert, but I wouldn't call these "nothing."

1. Pay fines, including $8 million, 50% of gross revenue paid to SEC for UT's participation in the 2020 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl under Pruitt, $5,000 plus 3% of football budget
2. Vacate all wins and individual records in any game in which 16 individual sanctioned players participated. Those games will be announced later.
3. Cut 28 scholarships from its roster over five years. UT has already self-imposed 16 scholarships cuts over the past two seasons.
4. Cease communication with recruits for 28 weeks spread over five years.
5. End unofficial visits by recruits for 40 weeks over five years.
6. Cut 36 official visits by recruits over five years.
7. Cut 120 evaluation days over five years.

Vacating games is a joke. They cheated and should have to forfeit games where they used players obtained by illegal means. The NCAA is worthless. They get to continue playing and going to bowls, competing for championships, and getting TV money. Should be none of any of those three.

[Troubadore]

Kay Norton, president emerita at Northern Colorado and the chief hearing officer for the NCAA panel, called the violations "egregious and expansive," making it "one of the largest cases this committee has ever adjudicated." And yet... just a little slap on the wrist.

The NCAA, whatever it claims to be nowadays, is again encouraging any program to commit "egregious and expansive" violations. Maybe we should just do the same. Seriously, what good is the NCAA? Do they carry any credibility or serve any purpose at this point other than being the target of toothless jokes? Their message is go ahead and cheat all you want - it's worth it. It is worth it.

[UltimateVUFan]

Kay Norton, president emerita at Northern Colorado and the chief hearing officer for the NCAA panel, called the violations "egregious and expansive," making it "one of the largest cases this committee has ever adjudicated." And yet... just a little slap on the wrist.

The NCAA, whatever it claims to be nowadays, is again encouraging any program to commit "egregious and expansive" violations. Maybe we should just do the same. Seriously, what good is the NCAA? Do they carry any credibility or serve any purpose at this point other than being the target of toothless jokes? Their message is go ahead and cheat all you want - it's worth it. It is worth it.

I wager they’d make an example of VU. Heck, look no further than suspensions for Lance G (giving his own money to an upperclassman to buy a better VU parking permit for him) and Festus (having a meal and hotel room - I believe - provided by a friend and fellow alumnus). Meanwhile, Brandon Miller had a possible connection to a homicide this year. Didn’t sit a single game.

No. The NCAA expects better from its academic-minded institutions. They have to hold SOME standards, after all…