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Using SMU's death penalty as a jumping-off point, big-time football in 2011 looks as dirty as ever. Almost half of the current Football Bowl Subdivision schools (56) have committed a major violation in football since 1987. There have been 72 cases involving major violations, averaging three major cases per year. The "leaders" in that category are Texas Tech and Alabama, each suffering major penalties on three separate occasions.

In the previous 24 years (1963-1987), there were 89 major cases. Narrow the focus to the decade of the 1980s, when there were 54 such cases in only 10 years. That's 55 percent more per year than the 1987-2011 sampling. While many years can separate a violation and a championship, the numbers are connected by a common pursuit -- the pressure to win at the top level. Not surprisingly, 44 of those 56 schools since 1987 are from BCS conferences (based on 2010 alignment).

Sort of like a scarlet letter -- with benefits. Or, to borrow a NASCAR term, if you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin.'