NCAA: OU Must Vacate 2005 Season

by Ajax on Jul 11, 2007 1:09 PM PDT

And this was after OU self-reported violations.

The Oklahoma football program must vacate its wins from the 2005 season and will lose two scholarships for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years.

The Sooners said they would appeal part of the NCAA's decision.

"In light of all the circumstances surrounding this case and as a matter of principle, the university has decided to appeal two elements of this decision -- the penalty of erasing the 2005 season record and the finding of failure to monitor," Oklahoma president David L. Boren said in a statement.

"We do not believe that erasing the 2005 season from the record books is fair to the over 100 student athletes and coaches who played by the rules and worked their hearts out for a successful season that year," Boren said.

The penalties, announced Wednesday by the NCAA, stem from a case involving two players, including the Sooners' starting quarterback, who were kicked off the team for being paid for work they had not performed at a Norman car dealership.

Now the NCAA needs to focus all of its resources on the corrupt band of criminals posing as student athletes in south central as well as all of their cling-on enablers.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

Tweet Comment 6 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

One of the comments

"TexasHawk76 (7/11/2007 at 12:30 PM)

You do understand, this may be the death knell of schools being proactive with their investigations. What possible motive to come clean and impose self-punishment does this create now? I speak as a die-hard Longhorn and die-hard Sooner rival when I say: This was wrong. The Sooners did not deserve this."

by SuperBruinMan on Jul 11, 2007 1:22 PM PDT reply actions

The violations were NOT self-reported

The NCAA report specifically address that issue.

In its response to the enforcement staff's notice of allegations, the institution claimed that it "self-reported" the employment violations to the NCAA. In reality, the violations at the dealership were first exposed in a March 3, 2006, electronic message (e-mail) sent by an anonymous source to both the NCAA enforcement staff and to institution officials. This e-mail stated that several student-athletes, including student-athlete 1, the institution's starting quarterback, were paid by the dealership for work that they did not perform. But for this e-mail, it is unlikely that these violations would have come to light.

I think Oklahoma's getting hosed, but we should be careful with the facts; they didn't self-report, they were snitched on with an anonymous e-mail. They never would have turned themselves in, they were already in NCAA trouble because of the BB program and gymnastics. This is also pointed out in the repoort;

As set forth earlier in this report, the institution's last appearance before the committee was only one year earlier, in April 2006, for a case involving the men's basketball and gymnastics programs.

by McCloskey on Jul 11, 2007 2:16 PM PDT up reply actions

Wow

The OU violations were not even close to the scope of cheating that was going on at another institution for that year...
what the hell is wrong with the NCAA? I get this feeling of utter disgust everytime I think about their inequitable decisions.

by bruinbunz on Jul 11, 2007 1:27 PM PDT reply actions

I have a different perspective

First, these penalties are a slap on the wrist, especially considering they were already on probation. Giving up wins from 2 seasons ago means nothing going forward. Also, losing two scholies over only the next two years isn't a huge problem.

Second, IIRC, OU was not in control of this information, so they really had no choice but to come clean, do their own investigation, sanction themselves, and act like they were taking the high road. SUC's situation is totally different as both the Bush family and the university have a huge incentive to keep quiet, and anyone else with information is being bought.

by bornagainbruin on Jul 11, 2007 2:03 PM PDT reply actions

OU got what they deserved

As pointed out by McCloskey, OU was not proactive in dealing with this violation. They reacted to the tip the NCAA received. However, you can argue that they were proactive in conducting their own internal investigation prior to the NCAA concluding theirs and imposing self sanctions. But.....OU would have been foolish not to impose any self sanctions considering the violation at hand. This was the "largest employer of OU athletes" per the NCAA findings. You would think somebody would monitor them considering the amount of athletes that were associated with them. OU knew that they were going to get more than a slap on the wrist considering they were already on probation. With the amount of money in college athletics, they knew what was on the line. There was nothing righteous about OU actions, they were just trying to minimize the damage. I'd do the same thing but it didn't work out the way they had planned.

IMO, this is the best thing that could have happened to the ongoing Bush investigation. The circumstances are different and the NCAA is still searching for a whistle blower that will cooperate but.......The OU sanctions are not going to go quietly into the night. The appeal has begun. Who thinks OU & its fans are going to sit there with their arms folded nicely? I want OU to make tons of noise so that the pressure to get to the bottom of the Bush investigation gets amped up more & more. The more ruckus OU makes, the Bush investigation will get more pressure to aggressively get to the bottom of things.