Cheating wins Championships
Ok so not exactly some kind of prophetic realizaton but it is something that I was thinking about that struck me as interesting.
It has now been 13 years since the NCAA implamented the BCS system. It was 13 years of ups and downs in college football. Through it all 13 teams were crowned National Champions. But almost all of those teams have something in common, NCAA violations.
http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/champions_national.html
| 1998 | Tennessee | 13-0 | Fiesta: Beat Florida St. 23-16 | Phillip Fulmer |
| 1999 | Florida State | 12-0 | Sugar: Beat Va. Tech 46-29 | Bobby Bowden |
| 2000 | Oklahoma | 13-0 | Orange: Beat Florida St. 13-2 | Bob Stoops |
| 2001 | Miami, Fla. | 12-0 | Rose: Beat Nebraska 37-14 | Larry Coker |
| 2002 | Ohio State | 14-0 | Fiesta: Beat Miami, Fla. 31-24 (2 ot) | Jim Tressel |
| 2003 |
LSU (National Champs) USC (#1 in AP Poll) |
13-1 12-1 |
Sugar: Beat Oklahoma 21-14 Rose: Beat Michigan 28-14 |
Nick Saban Pete Carroll |
| 2004 | USC | 13-0 | Orange: Beat Oklahoma 55-19 | Pete Carroll |
| 2005 | Texas | 13-0 | Rose: Beat USC 41-38 | Mack Brown |
| 2006 | Florida | 13-1 |
BCS Championship Game: Beat Ohio State 41-14 |
Urban Meyer |
| 2007 | LSU | 12-2 |
BCS Championship Game: Beat Ohio State 38-24 |
Les Miles |
| 2008 | Florida | 13-1 |
BCS Championship Game: Beat Oklahoma 24-14 |
Urban Meyer |
| 2009 | Alabama | 14-0 |
BCS Championship Game: Beat Texas 37-21 |
Nick Saban |
| 2010 | Auburn | 14-0 |
BCS Championship Game: Beat Oregon 22-19 |
Gene Chizik |
Of that list I see only 3 schools who have not faced some form of NCAA sanctions in the last 10 years; Oklahoma, Texas, and LSU. I dont include Auburn because come on, seriously, I shouldnt even have to explain why. We have seen Florida State and its exam scheme, USC and its payment of players, Florida having to suspend Newton because of his antics, Alabama caught redhanded, Miami and its swagger, and Ohio State with not 1 but 3 offenders(Clarrett, Troy Smith, Pryor). And when you consider the cheating that doesnt get caught then you have to add LSU to the list of cheaters with the obvious over signing of recruits.
So in some way shape or form, 11 of the last 13 National Champions cheated to win that championship. They committed acts that they knew to be violating NCAA rules but they did it with the intent to create and advantage to win. Now I havent done any extensive research on the subject. This is just me thinking through the information. Feel free to pick this apart or add in your own info, I might be way off in my thinking. But I actually think I am on to something here and am curious what you think.