This had to have been a topic on this board at some point.

Is USC's use of fake crowd noise at the Coliseum during its home games legal?

Having gone to several UCLA-USC games at the Coliseum, I couldn't get over the fact that the fake crowd noise was giving USC an unfair edge at home. If you've never heard it before, they run simulated crowd noise through the stadium loudspeakers on every opposing team's play after the opposing team breaks the huddle until the ball is snapped.

I found some articles in the NCAA rulebook that might make this practice illegal. If anybody else can help out, I think the results would be interesting.

From 2004 NCAA Football Rules and Interpretations

Persons Subject to the Rules
Rule 1-1-6. All players, substitutes, replaced players, coaches, trainers, cheerleaders in uniform, band members in uniform, mascots in uniform, commercial mascots, public-address announcers, audio and video system operators, and other persons affiliated with the teams or institutions are subject to the rules and shall be governed by the decisions of the officials.
Affiliated persons are those authorized within the team area.

Rule 1-2-1-b5  Persons subject to the rules, including bands, shall not create any noise that prohibits a team from hearing its signals (Rule 1-1-6).

PENALTY--Dead-ball foul. 15 yards [S7, S27] from the succeeding spot. Flagrant offenders, if players or substitutes, shall be disqualified
[S47].

Bottom line is: A team like 'SC doesn't need additional help from fake crowd noise. What the heck are they doing? If this is illegal, we can spring it on them next year at the rivalry game.

Go Bruins!