Right now, cheating in college football appears to be out of hand. I'm not sure it's worse than it's ever been, but it seems to be all over the place.
The main problem is that cheating is not illegal in the criminal system, so no punishment will really hurt a player, coach, or program as bad as it would in the business world. The NCAA takes way too long to investigate these matters. As soon as any suspicions arise, investigators should be beating down the door to get to the root of it. A verdict should come about quickly and then punish whoever is responsible. College football is big business, if there aren't enough investigators, then up the dues.
I'm sure that some programs weigh the cost of cheating and figure it's probably worth it. If Auburn paid Cam Newton $200,000, don't you think they made that money back 100 fold by winning the national championship? From a business sense, I would say that is a sound investment, especially since you can't go to jail for it. They can strip the national title and put them on probation for a couple years, but Auburn fans still have the t-shirt and memories. And Auburn still has the $20 million which they can build new stuff with to attract recruits within the rules. What a deal.
The death penalty was pretty harsh, but there has to be a way to curb cheating. For one, Jim Tressel shouldn't have been forced to resign by Ohio State, the NCAA should have forced it...and fined him $1 million. Investigators should be swooping down on Oregon right now and have a verdict within a month that would either clear Chip Kelly or not, and if it's the ladder he should be terminated and fined. Quick, stern action...that's what has to be done.
JB
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