Cheaters never win...except in the NCAA

Pardon the lack of post yesterday, but I was up to my cheatin' heart in the new sanctions the NCAA is placing on the University of Oklahoma.

Here's the 411: Three OU football players took a total of $17G's (or, if you prefer, 170 Benjamins) from a car dealership that does business with the athletic department. Shady, no? The university is in trouble because it didn't properly monitor NCAA regulations on its athletes' summer employment.

Because of that, OU got a semi-harsh penalty that doesn't really do much:
1. The wins from the 2005 season (the year those three players were on the team) are erased.
2. Two more years of probation (even though other programs at OU were already on probation).
3. Loss of two football scholarships for two years.

If this were the first time OU had been in trouble with the NCAA, the punishment would have been much less severe, and the media wouldn't be making a big deal of it.

But here's the thing: it's not the first time the Sooners have been in trouble. Not even close.

Since 1953, OU has been cited for SEVEN major infractions - six of them by the football team (the other was last year by the men's basketball team). If Myles Brands' po-po were anything like the real cops, the Sooners would have been given the death penalty twice by now.

Most of OU's violations have been recruiting-related - giving prospects free rides on jets, free rental cars, envelopes of cash or new wardrobes. Others have dealt with paying players, giving rides to athletes, free hotel stays rooms and selling tickets and giving the money to athletes.

What's as surprising as the number and variety of NCAA violations is the tremendous scope of the allegations. Four different coaches. Five different decades.

It'd be easy to dismiss a charge or two, but violations after each of the school's national championships?! That's a bit much.

OU has built a culture of cheating - either in reality or in public perception. So have Arizona State (8 major violations) Texas A&M (7), Auburn (7), Minnesota (7) and Wisconsin (7).

What's worse is that none of them are likely to change. Why would they? Recruits still flock to these major schools to play in big-time programs. And as a highly sought-after recruit, why wouldn't I want to go to a college that could give me kickbacks, help me pass my classes while doing as little work as possible and give me jobs so I can get paid for nothing?

If the NCAA is serious about reform, they have to start making examples of repeat violators - like OU's two major violations in the two major sports in two years. Suspend them from televised appearances. Keep them out of bowl games. Cut their scholarships in half.

It took the Sooners a decade to rebuild their program after NCAA's sanctions in 1988. Since then, college football has become an even bigger business, so a similar relapse for a major program would cost a school millions. That's something they'll understand. In the meantime, OU, Auburn and company will continue to ignore the rules until they have a reason to change.

I always heard that cheaters never win. But in the NCAA, not only do cheaters win - they keep winning, even after they're caught.