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.
January 30th, 2011 at 12:59 AM ^
Tremendous!
January 30th, 2011 at 1:27 AM ^
Being in the SEC also helps.
January 30th, 2011 at 1:24 AM ^
So that's what Tater looks like!
January 30th, 2011 at 8:44 AM ^
I actually know how to smile, and my tinfoil hat is soooooo much more stylish. Besides, the hat in the picture is actually set to receive signals sent by the evil aliens in Columbus and EL; mine is designed to deflect them.
January 30th, 2011 at 1:04 AM ^
you got points jacked for this... very creative and nice read.
January 30th, 2011 at 1:12 AM ^
Not trying to be an asshole, but you should include what happened to each school and an explanation before this is a good/great post. Good start, but you should include more than "I count" when it comes to the sanction data.
January 30th, 2011 at 1:13 AM ^
That's crazy and something that I've never really thought about. I wish we would've won when we had our NCAA investigation. Then again it would've taken more practice hours for that to happen.
/s
January 30th, 2011 at 1:19 AM ^
Maybe the investigation is a sign that we are finally worthy to win a BCS championship. A rite of passage, if you will.
January 30th, 2011 at 1:24 AM ^
How far off is this? I need to go talk to my bookie now...
January 30th, 2011 at 1:21 AM ^
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't LSU about to slapped with something?
January 30th, 2011 at 11:50 AM ^
LSU has already self-imposed penalties by taking away a couple scholarships for recruiting violations. The NCAA will definitely hit them with major violations.
Also, with Oklahoma, I know the school didn't face penalties but their starting QB, Rhett Bomar, and somebody else were paid by a booster for a "no-show" job.
January 30th, 2011 at 1:17 PM ^
Oklahoma was hit with probation, loss of 2 scholarships a year(forgot how many years), and had to vacate all wins from the previous year. They appealed and had the wins reinstated. The other player that supposedly received the most money was a 4th string receiver that never dressed when everyone around these parts knew it was Adrian Peterson. No excuse for what Rhett did but Oklahoma totally fucked him over.
January 30th, 2011 at 3:11 AM ^
Not to defend UF, but how is suspending someone cheating? I'd be willing to bet almost all FBS teams save the service academies have suspended multiple players in the past decade for behavior/breaking the law (ourselves included).
January 30th, 2011 at 3:21 AM ^
January 30th, 2011 at 1:23 PM ^
What's funny is I have heard Stoops a few times actually utter those words.
Stoops is also notorious for "handling" things in-house.
January 30th, 2011 at 7:18 AM ^
I think the point is there, but as we saw with UM, not all violations are created equal. Some of the violations at these schools were relatively minor, or at least not the type that display widespread cheating like, say, what happened at Auburn or USC. Also, there is a temporal element to everything - the violations at Tenn, Alabama, or OU didn't really occur when they won the championship - most occurred either years before or after, and have little to no connection to the win. But yeah, it is a little depressing, though when UM wins a title in 2013 people could point to the RR "violations" and say the same thing.
January 30th, 2011 at 10:02 AM ^
If you go back a year further you could include that Michigan team whose All-American safety was suspended for 6 games one season after winning the national title because he took illegal benefits from an agent. If you look at basketball as well as football you'd find one of the dirtier programs in the game's history right in Ann Arbor at that same time.
If your point is that just about any successful program in a sport with huge money at stake for the school and the players (albeit in the near future) is going to have some dirt, then you are correct. If your point is that poor, innocent Michigan is getting screwed over because all those other meanies are cheating, then you are just being a homer.
January 30th, 2011 at 12:09 PM ^
Same song and dance about the NCAA infractions committee really. They are woefully inadequate at policing schools and then when they do, or try to anyway, the rules don't seem to be truly the same for everyone. They are a joke. Nuff Said.
January 30th, 2011 at 1:03 PM ^
Mich works around the rules too (current probation, Harbaugh comments about player's education integrity, Fab Five, etc...). They just aren't doing any winning.
January 30th, 2011 at 1:52 PM ^
Funny how you didn't include 1997.
January 30th, 2011 at 4:06 PM ^
wasn't in place in 1997.
January 30th, 2011 at 2:58 PM ^
$EC always finds ways.
January 30th, 2011 at 8:18 PM ^
Didnt realize that Miami's "Swagger" Was a NCAA violation.....
January 30th, 2011 at 9:01 PM ^
Logically, it makes sense, right?
Cheating = competitive advantage = winning.
Simple formula, standard result.
Slightly depressing, as well.