Remember Rhett Bomar's tremendous performance at the 2005 Holiday Bowl? Do his 229 yards passing and one touchdown in a 17-14 Oklahoma win over the 10-1 Oregon Ducks still give you chills? Do you find yourself stopping in the middle of a meeting and replaying C.J. Ah You's two sacks in your mind's eye?
The answer to all of those questions is no because they never happened. The NCAA vacated Oklahoma's 2005 season yesterday because Bomar and two other players took no-show jobs at a Norman car dealership. The school loses all eight of its wins, including the Holiday Bowl win against Oregon, and will also lose two scholarships for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons. What they aren't required to do, however, is miss any future postseason games. They also won't have to return the $2 million-plus they were paid for playing in the bowl game. At the very least they should be subject to penalties on each of those fronts.
That's the very least because this is the second time in two years that Oklahoma's been found guilty of violating NCAA rules. In April 2006 the school announced they were investigating recruiting improprieties under former basketball coach Kelvin Sampson, now at Indiana. In that case, as well as the football issue, the NCAA found the school guilty of "failing to monitor" their athletic programs instead of the more severe loss of institutional control crime that cost SMU their football program for a while in the 80's.
Merely waving a magic wand and saying that the 8-4 Oklahoma season didn't happen isn't enough because the Sooners, who have the gall to appeal a punishment for violations they reported themselves, go about their business with their coffers full and their future just as bright despite breaking the rules. They were already on probation for the basketball violations, shouldn't that have made for a more severe penalty than eight less wins on Bob Stoops's career record? The NCAA said yesterday that the Sooners won eight games by using players who were ineligible and forced other teams into lower-paying bowls. The rest of Division I should get something more than retroactive wins for being cheated by an opponent.
Got to say, as much as I do not like OU, I disagree that they should forfeit future bowls. I hate it when current athletes get punished for the failures of previous athletes.
But pay back the $2mil? Fuck yeah, plus penalties. Jesus Christ.
Posted by: Extra P. | July 12, 2007 at 11:40 AM
It's tough. I agree that current/future players shouldn't be responsible for the sins of their forbears but if the NCAA is serious about having clean programs (a big if) there needs to be a punishment that has some teeth. Losing two scholarships and what amounts to double secret probation isn't going to do a thing. The money would be a good place to start.
Posted by: TheFeed | July 12, 2007 at 02:21 PM