Reggie Bush Investigation

[allvol123]

You're going to get benefits at any school. It is a way of life. Some get out of hand, and others are just 100 dollar handshakes. I am quite sure that nothing will come of this. The media darling will be swept under the rug.

Damn I hate to agree with a bammer, but I do in this case. It will be swept under the rug.

 

[GOT TWELVE?]

I am one of the few that doesn't see black helicopters....wait....I hear something.......

 

[milohimself]

This brings up an interesting point in college football recruiting. I will wait to say what I think the deal is, but do you suppose the generally more docile, less-demanding fan bases of Pac-10 schools create less propensity to cheat on the west coast? I mean, we've seen multiple times, especially in SEC territory (*cough* Alabama) throwing in a "little extra" to pull down a recruit. On the west coast, Phil Knight is the only major booster, then other than that it's mostly season ticket holders and local business.

Now clearly, this issue was created by the fact that Reggie Bush at USC was, simply put, on an entire nother level from the rest of college football. So it's an isolated case because this guy was just so talented at USC.

But as far as recruiting, and an area's disposition to be a little more dubious in its recruiting methods... What do you guys think?

 

[Lexvol]

This brings up an interesting point in college football recruiting. I will wait to say what I think the deal is, but do you suppose the generally more docile, less-demanding fan bases of Pac-10 schools create less propensity to cheat on the west coast? I mean, we've seen multiple times, especially in SEC territory (*cough* Alabama) throwing in a "little extra" to pull down a recruit. On the west coast, Phil Knight is the only major booster, then other than that it's mostly season ticket holders and local business.

Now clearly, this issue was created by the fact that Reggie Bush at USC was, simply put, on an entire nother level from the rest of college football. So it's an isolated case because this guy was just so talented at USC.

But as far as recruiting, and an area's disposition to be a little more dubious in its recruiting methods... What do you guys think?

Again, it will all depend on how the NCAA looks at the situation. Because it appears that no booster was involved, that will bode well for USC. However, do not put it past the NCAA to ask the program why it didn't bother to do an internal investigation. With all the travel, and benefits provided it wouldn't have taken a genius to figure out that Bush and family was getting money from somewhere.

As despotic as the NCAA is it is possible (not probable) that they may hang "lack of institutional control" for two reasons. One would be negligence for ignoring obvious signs, and the other would be that they USC is dragging their illustrious "name" through the mud. From my limited understanding of legal issues negligence is generally easier to prove but is not punished as harshly as fraud, but the longer this goes on in the press, the more the NCAA will feel pressure to hand down a heavy handed sentence.

 

[milohimself]

Well, it seems it's not getting entirely too much attention. The general feeling of the public seems to be that USC carries a minute, if at all existant, portion of fault for this case, and certainly lacks any direct involvement.

So, if the NCAA does deal out a punishment (which I believe it will -- although it would be the wrong thing to do), it will have an effect on the present rather than anythig that could be done retroactively. That would affect the two national titles USC has earned during Bush's time there.

I'd say brief reduction in scholarship(s) is the most likely punishment. Retroactive punishment would be more fitting of the situation, but there is no way to go about doing that without being unnecesarily heavy-handed.

Again, as I don't know of any reasonable punishment, I don't think any should be given out for this case. Somebody mentioned revocation of Bush's Heisman Trophy, which is a possibility... It would be up to the Heisman Commitee, which states that the winner must be a bona fide student athlete as described by the laws of the NCAA.

We'll see how it turns out.

 

[cotton]

:BANGHEAD2:

We're talking about taking away titles and giving them to a team that got its ass handed to them. Ridiculous on so many levels.

In cases such as this, I doubt, even if USC was to be stripped of it's title, that it would be awarded to anyone else because USC won it on the field. It would probably appear as "Vacated."

I think it is very unlikely, even if all allegations are proven true, that USC would be forced to give up it's title. I think future restrictions and a probation are much more likely. Hell of a way to kill a dynasty, huh?

And Hat, although the NCAA may not crown a national champion in football, they recognize one (at least) each year. They could certainly withdraw that recognition for a year, even if ESPN/USA Today, or the AP, or Jeff Sagarin, or any body else did not.

But I still don't think it will happen.

 

[therealUT]

The only thing the NCAA can do is force USC to forfeit the games in won while Reggie Bush was on the team. That does not force the media to strip USC of their titles, however, USC would not longer be the PAC-10 Champion for those years.

 

[Parys_Prince_of_Troy]

I know this is a bit off topic (especially the day before the Florida game), but what do you guys think?

ESPN.com - NCF - Report: Bush, family received $100,000 in benefits

 

[SWIL]

hmmm, I don't think they should strip his Heisman away- sounds like fubar to me.

 

[therealUT]

I think they should send Bush to a Penal Colony until he has learned his lesson (which, of course, Notre Dame fans decide.)

 

[vader]

He DOES play for the Saints

 

[jakez4ut]

I think the only way they strip USC's title is the ole "Lack of Institutional Control" violation. To prove that, they've got to show that USC either knew about the extra benefits or that the agent was a USC booster.

I'd bet this was just some hack agent trying to lock up Reggie Bush so they could cash in on his NFL career.

You can't take away a championship you don't give out. The NCAA does not name a D-I football champion. If the AP, ESPN/Coaches, or BCS want to do so, it's up to them.

two very good points there....

 

[tvolsfan]

Not like he was taking steroids, how much better did the money make him?

NCAA needs to stop being stupid, and stay the hell out of the way. Let the teams play.

 

[WA_Vol]

I don't think an agent would give an athlete a 100k just hoping to sign him. He would have to have some kind of a commitment in writing first to offer that much money IMO.

True the NCAA doesn't name the national champion, but they can put teams on probation, not allowing the team to play in bowl games.

Ask SMU how much power the NCAA has.