BCS strips USC of their 2004 National Title

College Sports 42 replies 2,015 views
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Manhattan Buckeye
Posts: 7,566
Jun 7, 2011 3:57am
NCAA cleared it....they should be clear.

The '10 regular season may be vacated, it would suck. I suppose it is in the NCAA's hand - if it is vacating of the season or future punishment, from a fan's perspective I'd prefer the former, from a player's perspective it should be the latter.

Then again, perhaps the punishment will just be the suspensions and maybe a few schollies. I don't think OSU will have their season vacated, but '11 will suffer from the suspensions.
Y-Town Steelhound's avatar
Y-Town Steelhound
Posts: 1,388
Jun 7, 2011 4:06am
'10 season may get vacated but like the USC title who really cares? Again, it's like trying to unring the bell...all of us watched the games, witnessed them happen. Also I find no reason as to why the Sugar Bowl win should be vacated. Regardless of what Tressel knew and when he knew it, it does not change what the players did which is the focus of their suspensions. The NCAA knew exactly what the players did and still ruled them eligible for the game. It would look pretty stupid if they vacated that game but it is the NCAA after all...
M
Manhattan Buckeye
Posts: 7,566
Jun 7, 2011 4:18am
You can't unring the bell, but the message from the bell becomes a disgrace. Perhaps it is just my opinion, but Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, etc. sound like a bunch of d-bags. Congrats, you did something that might make the espn ocho a few years from now, you did it wrong and it's in the memory of people that know you cheated.
Sykotyk's avatar
Sykotyk
Posts: 1,155
Jun 7, 2011 6:05am
If you don't vacate the wins, you're basically saying it's okay to cheat and get caught after you won a couple NCs, because, who cares if you have to pay the piper later on. At least you get to still be known as champions, etc.

Losing the one thing they cheated to achieve is the only way to attempt to stop anybody from cheating. If you stole something from the store, even though you're arrested and punished, you don't still get to keep the ill gotten goods.
Y-Town Steelhound's avatar
Y-Town Steelhound
Posts: 1,388
Jun 7, 2011 6:14am
Sykotyk;792883 wrote:If you don't vacate the wins, you're basically saying it's okay to cheat and get caught after you won a couple NCs, because, who cares if you have to pay the piper later on. At least you get to still be known as champions, etc.

Losing the one thing they cheated to achieve is the only way to attempt to stop anybody from cheating. If you stole something from the store, even though you're arrested and punished, you don't still get to keep the ill gotten goods.
My point is this: When it came to appeals, USC didn't appeal the vacating of their wins and title...they were appealing their loss of scholarships and bowl bans. Those are FAR MORE damaging to a program than vacating wins because frankly you can't vacate memories and experiences. Yea it needs to be done and symbolically it's all swell but the scholarship loss/bowl ban does far more to curb future violations than vacating wins. Just seems pointless 7 years after the fact. USC still recognizes it as a championship season, they don't give back the money they got for playing in the Orange Bowl. It just doesn't have much of a point is what I'm saying.

None of the players on the team now care about the 04 title getting stripped, none of the players on the 04 team care that the NCAA vacated it. Like Leinart said, they know they won it on the field. They still have their rings. Everyone knows they were the best team in the country that year.
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Hamp89
Posts: 625
Jun 7, 2011 7:25am
Y-Town Steelhound;792884 wrote:
None of the players on the team now care about the 04 title getting stripped, none of the players on the 04 team care that the NCAA vacated it. Like Leinart said, they know they won it on the field. They still have their rings. Everyone knows they were the best team in the country that year.

Don't let Leinart's comments fool you. I guarantee these guys care about losing the title. What else would you expect him to say? I'm sure the news is hurting most of that team. That team will always be looked at as tarnished and will never get the same respect as other teams who have done it the right way. Its just the way it is. They'll have to defend that title the rest of their lives anytime it comes up.
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enigmaax
Posts: 4,511
Jun 7, 2011 9:43am
Manhattan Buckeye;792854 wrote:Naivety. You don't think when players visit the campus they aren't told by current players what bennies they get? Of course they do. Reggie Bush was a professional, they cheated and they are paying for it now. Their 2004 championship can sit in the cockles of the hearts of their supporters, the fact is they cheated and its gone. Congrats on being a cheater. I don't give a fuck what they did on the field, they are cheaters.

I don't doubt that whatever common little perks here and there that players receive (which likely happens at more places than we know) becomes known to recruits. I do doubt Reggie Bush was going around talking about what he was getting because the guys involved there had a completely different angle. They weren't taking care of USC athletes; they were trying to bank on Reggie Bush, future NFL star to get something back down the road. Either way, you can talk all you want about the title being gone and how you feel about cheaters. That fact is now simply a piece of conversation. It doesn't change the result. It doesn't change the winners or losers point-of-view because whether you like it or not, on the field is the only thing that really counts.
Y-Town Steelhound;792884 wrote:My point is this: When it came to appeals, USC didn't appeal the vacating of their wins and title...they were appealing their loss of scholarships and bowl bans. Those are FAR MORE damaging to a program than vacating wins because frankly you can't vacate memories and experiences. Yea it needs to be done and symbolically it's all swell but the scholarship loss/bowl ban does far more to curb future violations than vacating wins. Just seems pointless 7 years after the fact. USC still recognizes it as a championship season, they don't give back the money they got for playing in the Orange Bowl. It just doesn't have much of a point is what I'm saying.

None of the players on the team now care about the 04 title getting stripped, none of the players on the 04 team care that the NCAA vacated it. Like Leinart said, they know they won it on the field. They still have their rings. Everyone knows they were the best team in the country that year.

Excellent summary. The NCAA has to do what they can, no matter how hollow it is. There will always be a problem enforcing these rules because the guys who actually break the rules will typically be gone by the time there's a ruling. The punishment has to be paid forward and that damages the program, but not the guys involved (most of the time). But I don't even know that bowl bans and loss of scholarships actually curbs the problem; contrary to popular belief, "USC" wasn't involved, it just happened to be their player(s). A school can do very little to prevent the actual acts once a player decides he's going to take the money, they can only try to deal with whatever punishment is going to come.
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enigmaax
Posts: 4,511
Jun 7, 2011 9:47am
Hamp89;792896 wrote:Don't let Leinart's comments fool you. I guarantee these guys care about losing the title. What else would you expect him to say? I'm sure the news is hurting most of that team. That team will always be looked at as tarnished and will never get the same respect as other teams who have done it the right way. Its just the way it is. They'll have to defend that title the rest of their lives anytime it comes up.

Same respect from who? A bunch of dolts on message boards? Your last line is correct, but it is still a different take than "hurting". Just saw Mike Schmidt talking about it on Mike & Mike and he said basically the same thing. To him, it was pretty simple - players don't care at all about vacating the wins or the title. They'll be annoyed about having to answer questions about it, but they know they won it on the field and as competitors that is really all that matters to them.
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vball10set
Posts: 24,795
Jun 7, 2011 11:03am
enigmaax;792972 wrote: .... but they know they won it on the field and as competitors that is really all that matters to them.

and this is the same approach OSU players (and fans) will take if any of their wins are vacated--especially the ones against tsun
jhay78's avatar
jhay78
Posts: 1,917
Jun 7, 2011 12:24pm
jhay78;792754 wrote: 2003 USC would've wiped the floor with LSU if they hadn't been hosed by the worst final BCS rankings ever. SC's 1 vacated title > LSU's fraudulent title in '03 + a 2-loss title in '07.
cats gone wild;792798 wrote:Wow, seriously? This could go down as the dumbest post in ohiochatter history.

The intelligence of my original post divided by 2 > your post.
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stlouiedipalma
Posts: 1,797
Jun 7, 2011 12:58pm
Leinhart, Bush, Carroll, et al are way past that, making big money and not being held accountable for all the cheating which went on. The ones who lost big are the faithful fans of USC, those who buy the tickets, the jerseys, hats. They are the ones who take all of the heat for their team's transgressions. They didn't violate any of the rules, yet they are the ones who are stained with the shameful acts, who have to take the taunts of other schools' fan bases. If it were up to me, all those who took part in rules violations should have to pony up big time, even well after the fact. Hefty fines, community service, whatever. It's just not right that they get off scot-free and leave such a mess for their fan base.
Sykotyk's avatar
Sykotyk
Posts: 1,155
Jun 7, 2011 1:16pm
enigmaax;792972 wrote:Same respect from who? A bunch of dolts on message boards? Your last line is correct, but it is still a different take than "hurting". Just saw Mike Schmidt talking about it on Mike & Mike and he said basically the same thing. To him, it was pretty simple - players don't care at all about vacating the wins or the title. They'll be annoyed about having to answer questions about it, but they know they won it on the field and as competitors that is really all that matters to them.

Then they'd be idiots because it wasn't a fair fight. Let every other school enjoy the same advantages USC garnered and see how things play out. It's like being proud you beat a toddler. Yeah, nobody is disputing you beat them, but that's not the point.
Mulva's avatar
Mulva
Posts: 13,650
Jun 7, 2011 1:28pm
Sykotyk;793127 wrote:Then they'd be idiots because it wasn't a fair fight. Let every other school enjoy the same advantages USC garnered and see how things play out. It's like being proud you beat a toddler. Yeah, nobody is disputing you beat them, but that's not the point.

Because getting paid by an agent gave them an advantage on the field?
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sportswizuhrd
Posts: 3,215
Jun 7, 2011 1:58pm
Cliff notes version of the USC and Bush infractions. And before anyone says anything about the writer being a USC featured columnist, read the whole case and write your own version if you think there are bias about it or don't like it.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/718845-usc-and-the-reggie-bush-infractions-the-cliffs-notes-version
Aside from the actual sanctions that the NCAA has placed on USC in the Reggie Bush case, the lingering problem is the misperception that still exists in the media and among college football fans in general.

One of reasons for this misperception is that many sportswriters and media analysts simply do not or will not read anything longer than a blog note. Some writers read about as many newspapers as Sarah Palin. So, it would be rather absurd to have expected them to pore over the voluminous material in the NCAA’s allegations against USC and the university’s subsequent appeal.

Since USC and public relations people have been rather negligent in explaining the infractions in simple layman’s terms, many misconceptions pervade even today.

So, for those who are still laboring under those misconceptions, here is the Cliffs Notes version.

USC did not pay Reggie Bush to play football.
USC did not give Bush’s family a home in exchange for their son playing football for the Trojans.
USC did not buy Reggie Bush a car or give him money to purchase a car.
No USC booster or patron ever gave Bush or his family any money or other financial benefits.
Lloyd Lake, the person who provided a home for the Bush’s and a used car for Reggie Bush, was not a booster or even a fan of USC.
Lloyd Lake was an ex-convict who had delusions of becoming a sports agent. When he left prison, he realized that a friend of his, Reggie Bush’s stepfather, LaMar Griffin, had a stepson, Reggie Bush, who was gaining fame playing college football.
Lake provided Griffin a home as well as other benefits in return for his stepson, Reggie Bush, signing with Lake’s fledgling sports agency when he decided to play in the NFL.
Here are the actual NCAA allegations against USC:

USC’s Compliance Department failed to check the incomplete registration form for Reggie Bush’s vehicle.
USC’s Compliance Department and former head football coach, Pete Carroll, failed to check the living arrangements for Bush’s family in San Diego, some 130 miles from the Los Angeles campus.
Former head coach Pete Carroll ran open practices, where the NCAA believed that sports agents and their staffers could have come in contact with the players although no such contacts were ever uncovered.
Former Athletic Director Mike Garrett failed to increase an undermanned Compliance Department that had only two employees.
The Athletic Department failed to properly investigate the alleged violations or cooperate fully with the NCAA’s investigators.
An assistant football coach, Todd McNair, was accused by Lloyd Lake of having known about Lake’s arrangements with the Bush family.
Todd McNair denied the accusation but the NCAA preferred to take the word of Lloyd Lake, an ex-convict.
The above violations were lumped together with the O.J. Mayo recruitment violation, which USC self-sanctioned, and the case of a woman’s tennis player who used an athletics department long-distance access code to make 123 unauthorized international telephone calls to family members.
By lumping all three cases together, the NCAA was able to hit USC with a Lack of Institutional Control (LOIC) violation.
Basically, that is the long and short of it. So, for those of you who may have been laboring under some misconceptions about what exactly USC did or did not do, I hope this clears that up.
Here is the originial document. 64 pages long.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/d28c898042cdd2bc958fd5a6e282e000/20100610+USC+Public+Report.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=d28c898042cdd2bc958fd5a6e282e000
FatHobbit's avatar
FatHobbit
Posts: 8,651
Jun 7, 2011 3:06pm
sportswizuhrd;793162 wrote:Cliff notes version of the USC and Bush infractions. And before anyone says anything about the writer being a USC featured columnist, read the whole case and write your own version if you think there are bias about it or don't like it.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/718845-usc-and-the-reggie-bush-infractions-the-cliffs-notes-version



Here is the originial document. 64 pages long.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/d28c898042cdd2bc958fd5a6e282e000/20100610+USC+Public+Report.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=d28c898042cdd2bc958fd5a6e282e000

The issue for me with USC is did they know about it and do nothing? Apparently the NCAA believed Lloyd Lake over Todd McNair and USC didn't cooperate so the NCAA stuck it to them.

Only slightly related, I'm still not clear on what Tressel knew and what he did about it. I think they have admitted he knew about two freshman selling items. If he did something about it and talked to them and they stopped then I think he deserved punishment for lying to the NCAA but I wish he was still the OSU football coach. If he knew about it and let it go on, then he deserved to be fired IMHO.

And I fail to understand how the hell Cam Newton was cleared to play in the championship game. That seemed pretty blatant to me.
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enigmaax
Posts: 4,511
Jun 7, 2011 4:52pm
Sykotyk;793127 wrote:Then they'd be idiots because it wasn't a fair fight. Let every other school enjoy the same advantages USC garnered and see how things play out. It's like being proud you beat a toddler. Yeah, nobody is disputing you beat them, but that's not the point.

Please clarify. What was the advantage? What would have changed had Reggie Bush's family not taken money?
D
dat dude
Posts: 1,564
Jun 8, 2011 3:38pm
As others have said, vacating wins is meaningless. I'd much rather win a national championship and have it vacated years later than lose a national championship game.
FatHobbit's avatar
FatHobbit
Posts: 8,651
Jun 8, 2011 3:41pm
dat dude;795035 wrote:As others have said, vacating wins is meaningless. I'd much rather win a national championship and have it vacated years later than lose a national championship game.

Not only are the vacated wins kinda meaningless, the school is going to make a ton of money selling national championship merchandise. They never give the money back...