Does this story sound familiar?

[Southland]

<A HREF="http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/6646232" TARGET=_blank>http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/6646232</A>

[Rosebud]

So that's why he went 11-0 with his first team (on probation - no bowl game) and never matched it? And why schools haven't been lining up to hire him out of the broadcast booth?

[Charleston Pony]

wow. what a shocker. a team in the SEC was actually paying players? whoda thunked it?

I remember hearing from some of our guys in the "mee(a)t market" that followed the announcement of SMU's death penalty...how SEC coaches were telling guys "whatever you are getting here, we will have no problem matching".

It's been a dirty game for as long as I can remember and anyone who thinks the top programs are clean is living in a fantasy world.

[Arkpony]

I rememebr a tv interview with Dickerson I saw when SMU was getting the dp, When asked whether he wa spaid to attend SMU he laughed and said why are you guys picking on SMU? When I was being questioned by thre NCAA when I told them about what schools like Texas and Arkansas had offered me and the only laughed and said "Why would those schools have to offer money to get athletes?" ..'nuff said concerning that awful NCAA

[Arkpony]

Darn..I should check my posts for typing and grammar before I post it! I really CAN spell and us eproper English! But you get the idea from my previous post. I also know Arkansas athletes who told me of the "gifts" they continually received when at Broyles squeaky clean program...it goes on everywhere...the NCAA just looks the other way except when it comes to upstart smaller private schools like our own SMU.

[Southland]

I think this is the greatest litmus test for the NCAA Death Penalty rule. If Auburn skates by after paying athletes during probation and then lying about it, it completely discredits the NCAA argument that SMU was handed the death penalty for non-compliance, while other eligible programs have escaped because of cooperation.

[ponyte]

The NCAA will pound its collective chest like Tarzan and give Auburn 3 years probation without any restrictions on post-season play and take away 2 scholarships.

The NCAA will then find an obscure team, like West Texas School for the Visually Challenged and hit that schools football program with the death penalty for 3 years. The ‘violation’ will be something along the lines of providing eyeglasses to its players, which is clearly paying them to play.

[MrMustang1965]

You will NEVER see the DP leveled on any school ever again. Take that to the bank.

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"Winning ain't everything...but it's a lot more fun than the alternative!" S.M.U. SPIRIT: IT STARTS NOW!

[Dement-ed]

That's actually a frighteningly accurate "view" of the way the NCAA appears to dole out punishment. And funny, too.

[Charleston Pony]

The Auburn situation is all about Alabama vs Auburn. You can expect Auburn to get something close to what 'Bama got...basically reducing them to I-AA scholarship levels so while the two of them will remain very competitive with each other, within 2-3 yrs they will fall down to the level of Ole Miss, MSU & Vandy and will get hammered by Georgia, Fla, Tenn, etc... (unless of course those latter programs all join them on probation)

The SEC (Sanctions for Everyone Conference)

[Southland]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Charleston Pony:
<B>The Auburn situation is all about Alabama vs Auburn. You can expect Auburn to get something close to what 'Bama got...basically reducing them to I-AA scholarship levels so while the two of them will remain very competitive with each other, within 2-3 yrs they will fall down to the level of Ole Miss, MSU & Vandy and will get hammered by Georgia, Fla, Tenn, etc... (unless of course those latter programs all join them on probation)

The SEC (Sanctions for Everyone Conference)</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I tend to agree that CBS has too much influence (CBS rights generate 95% of total NCAA revenue) and would never let Auburn lose football or TV.

However, the point I was making is that in Death Penalty cases, the NCAA has justified not enforcing the Death Penalty rule based on the compliance of Universities under investigation.

Here, there is no compliance... in fact there is straight up denial of payments while on probation, which puts Auburn of the 1990s in the exact same pond as SMU of 1986.

Apples to Oranges when compared to the Bama probation, where the university admitted the wrong doing, and punished themselves before the NCAA handed out the "final" ruling (the NCAA added penalties in that case).

That is why it will be a good litmus test for the rule, because the compliance variable (that was added to the DP rule in 1989) doesn't exist here. It will be very interesting to see how this is spun...

[Arkpony]

Whatever...the NCAA ain't NEVER going to hurt anyone like they did SMU. We al know that. It's all a sham.