I'm not saying that there is an "all-time high" for cheating...
BUT...there certainly is an "all-time" financial value put on the entire "arms-race" in college football.
Multi-million dollar coaches who are NOT in control of the rampant booster contacts with the programs and the players are rather troublesom...HOWEVER, what is probably going to have to happen with the NCAA is that they are more or less going to be forced to bring the hammer down on the "untouchable" programs.
First USC...now Ohio State...can Auburn (defending national champ) be far behind? And, remember there is some nasty stuff going on at Oregon too. Auburn and Oregon played for the NC last season...and I don't know IF the NCAA can walk away from some of those programs now that they have taken USC and Ohio State down.
My question lies more with whether some of these "top of the line..." and formerly "untouchable" TOP 15 types of programs...with all of their sense of entitlements and outrageously and incredibly loyal, huge fan bases and "we will do anything to WIN...because we ALWAYS win" types of football programs will be willing to be publically humiliated, penalized, kept from competing for national championships by the NCAA and willing to share the revenue they can make because of their own name with other LESSER (in their own minds) conference members? Think about it...set up four 8 team regional divisions in a SUPER CONFERENCE, play only teams from the other regions for the ooc portions of the schedule and then have a playoff to determine a TRUE National Champion...and open up the bidding to ESPN, FOX, NBC, etc to see just HOW MANY Billions of dollars a 3 or 4 year deal with bring. Then, just divide that money, after expences among 32 teams. Now, start looking at some of the names of programs that are SO strong...USC, Oregon, Texas, Texas A & M, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio State, Florida, possibly Florida State...Miama, FL, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, maybe Penn State, Arizona State, Auburn, and a few more. Would Notre Dame be tempted?
These schools would not be hampered by the NCAA any longer. They could come up with their own rules. They could have different recruiting rules. They could decide to pay their players IF they wanted.
There are all kinds of reasons why something like this would be welcomed by some of these types of programs...and maybe, you are correct, that conference ties and traditions may rule in the end. It may very well be that THE Ohio State fan base and boosters will be satisfied, humbled by their humiliating experience of losing scholarships, being banned from post season play and having to admit that they have gained benefits by cheating and allowing an almost total lack of institutional control in their BUCKEYE FOOTBALL Program. But, then again, maybe some of thm will NEVER accept that the NCAA has ANY kind of right to touch THE Ohio State FOOTBALL PROGRAM.
I just think that the NCAA has FINALLY realized that they have to start bringing the hammer down on the formerly untouchable MONSTER programs that in essence are the best known and most markatable programs. My question is this: has the NCAA waited too long, and will some of the supre powers be SO offended by their punishments that they decide to take their ball and go home and "run away" from the limiting NCAA and start their own governing body and marketing machine. It would be the quickest way to a playoff based TRUE national championship series. A total of 16 to 32 super teams could easily have their entire season geared toward a big time playoff between 4 or 8 teams at the end of the year. Why, the top 8 teams could have a real play-off system down to the National championship. The "elete eight"
And, who knows, perhaps the current system is just no longer managable. Maybe, in order to save the integrity of the game, the strongest programs with the most resources and the longest history of always being elete and entitled with the strongest fan bases and the most outrageous booster groups NEED to be eleminated from the regular old college football programs that really can NOT compete with those elete programs any way. Perhaps Division I could have a return to having real student athletes who want a college education and want to go to class playing on Saturdays. Maybe the "elete programs" would have all the four and five star players...and maybe that would be a good thing for them...their programs and those entitled fan bases.
Maybe the less than elete programs wouldn't make as much money from their football and possibly basketball and hockey programs. Maybe they wouldn't be giving coaches multi-million dollar contracts or spending as much. Maybe the college football "arms race" would become less of a porblem. Just think, the University of Minnesota just spent almost $300 million just to get their football program back on campus...and they have one of the 3 smallest and least able to generate income stadiums in the Big Ten Conference. PSU, OSU and Michigan all have stadiums that seat over 100,000. Minnesota, Indiana and NU are all less able to raise income from Game Day Saturday than all the rest of the Big Ten football programs. And, THE Ohio State University football program CHEATS to try to maintain their incredible advantage. And, we just have Nebraska entering the Big Ten...IF you don't think they are going to try to keep up with THE Ohio State in every way, shape and form, you will be very mistaken. When Michigan arizes from their journey to hell...and Penn State decides to really get serious...I really don't know IF the Big Ten will be big enough to hold these angry/and/or/sleeping giants. The REAL slumbering giants in the Big Ten in football are Ohio State, Nebraska, Michigan and Penn State. Just look out when they get revved up, on focus and decide to each "own" the world of college football. There are some other programs just like them in other conferences. I really don't know where it will all end...but...I have a feeling that if you haven't been right there with those other giants pretty much all along, it is NOT going to be pretty.
Our beautiful little 50,000 seat stadium just brought us back to campus...it didn't put us on equal or even footing with a LOT of programs. Just a fact of life.
But, if the U of M could join the ranks of other college and university football programs that want to have real student athletes playing football on Saturdays in the fall, Game Day Saturday can have GREAT traditions and be even better than it is today.
But when a program as GREAT as THE Ohio State has to cheat and look the other way and have the boosters running the show just to compete with the OTHER super powers...the rest of us really don't even have ANY kind of stinking chance to really ever compete with tosu. Why even pretend????? So, let's find a way to clean up and simplify and take some of the money out of college football and let the BIG TIME PROGRAMS do what ever they damn well please. Let them have the BIGGEST and the BEST tv contracts...and all the nightmares, headaches and all the cheating that goes with that. IF the NCAA drives off some of the biggest cheaters and rule benders, more power to them. Keep bringing the hammer down on the big boys NCAA. Let the chips fall where they may.