Maybe it's because the Big Ten jumped at the conference realignment opportunity early and maybe it's because—to date—nobody in Madison has had to keep perspiration in check through NCAA investigations, but all this non-football activity is really starting to get monotonous.
Apparently, Texas A&M ditched the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference Tuesday. Of course, that's like the sixth time a school has left, or been within a signature of leaving, in the last several weeks.
Ohio State—one loss already in hand—gets its suspended players back after this weekend.
It is understandable to have these sorts of things dominate headlines in the college football offseason. After all, coaches are not allowed to have contact with players and there are no formal practices, no roster decisions (unless you have a quarterback transferring to your school) and very little in the way of football-related news.
It is also inevitable that they get covered during the season. Obviously, it would not have done the public justice to not report on the Cam Newton situation last year just because it was happening during the season.
Here's the problem: The governing body of college athletics doesn't have a good grip on the reigns to keep schools and conferences in check.
Asking the NCAA to keep its football programs under control is a little bit like asking my grandma to put on roller skates and take a Bernese mountain dog for a walk amongst the squirrels.
Still, its become obvious the guys at the Indianapolis headquarters don't worry too much about bruises, so they could at least make an honest effort.
The violations grind my gears a lot more thoroughly than conference realignment. It is clear that the college landscape has already seen significant changes and that more is to come. The Big Ten did a really nice job of announcing the addition of Nebraska in the summer, minimizing the in-season distractions for a league that needs all the attention it can get for its on-field product.
People will pay attention to the SEC regardless, but the coverage of games, particularly ones garnering national attention like No. 3 Alabama at No. 12 Florida this weekend, will almost certainly be diluted by talk of the Aggies joining the conference and all sorts of impossibly speculative stabs at the what the future might hold.
The teams ‘in trouble' with the NCAA, though, point more directly at the organizational lack of control.
Take Ohio State for example. The chronicles of their trouble have been penned, at length, far more completely than I could lay it out. But remember when all those involved were allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl as long as they came back to Columbus, Ohio this season and warm the bench for a couple games?
Sure, the Buckeyes got throttled by Miami and, in all likelihood, won't be able to run the table in the Big Ten, but do you think that really scared anybody straight?
Speaking of Miami, they've had their fair share of troubles over the last 20 years, and that didn't stop Nevin Shapiro from providing dozens of players with lavish perks. Senior quarterback Jacory Harris received a one-game suspension, because that seems like adequate punishment.
It should be said that the Hurricanes will likely receive additional sanction when the investigation is formally completed. Potentially, the ""death penalty,"" or a complete shutdown of a football program for a year, could be on the table.
The possibility has to at least be discussed.
Another suggestion: Strip a team of its revenue for a home game or two. Will they fight for it? Probably. Would it be ugly? Almost certainly.
But I bet it would make a whole bunch of teams sit up straight and re-evaluate the processes they have in place.
At schools like Wisconsin, football revenue not only pays for the expenses accrued by that team, but by the non-revenue programs as well.
Ohio State has 36 varsity sports. Imagine a meeting where Buckeyes' school president E. Gordon Gee has to sit down with the non-revenue coaches and tell them their program is taking a little funding cut because DeVier Posey wanted another tattoo.
It's the language they speak and it's the best way to address the NCAA's lack of ability to hold anybody's feet to the fire.
