USC's self-imposed sanctions are a joke

I don't follow college football all that closely. I don't believe in a sport that doesn't allow an undefeated team (or three) a shot at a national title.

Sure, I'll watch the occasional Saturday afternoon game, and will never turn down a ticket to a big time gridiron match-up, but that doesn't mean I know much more about the sport than Tim Tebow's good and Notre Dame isn't.

That also means that I don't know all that much about the Reggie Bush situation. What I do know is that Bush allegedly (with overwhelming evidence supporting those allegations) was given a bunch of money (six figures) and other improper benefits while at USC. I also know that the investigation has dragged on for years despite the overwhelming evidence.

Need I mention Joe McKnight?

Somewhere in that mess is a violation that the USC athletics department can prove. Somewhere in there is evidence of wrong doing by the program that could be enough to cost the football program scholarships, a postseason, or even their head coach.

The USC basketball program hasn't been squeaky clean, either. Everyone knows about the way that OJ Mayo was treated during his recruitment and his time with the Trojans, and Tim Floyd even lost his job because of improper benefits he was alleged to have given a Mayo handler.

The violations involving Tim Floyd and OJ Mayo only hurt the current USC players.
(photo credit: daylife)

Today, USC athletic director Mike Garrett handed down some significant punishments for USC basketball team resulting from the Mayo-Floyd fiasco:

• All of USC's wins from the 2007-2008 season will be vacated from the record books.
  
• They lost a scholarship for both this season and next season.
• One less coach is allowed to recruit off-campus next summer.
• The total number of recruiting days USC is allowed to have for the 2010-2011 academic year was reduced from 130 to 110.

But the most significant punishment was a ban from all postseason play for this season.

No Pac-10 Tournament.

No NCAA Tournament.

Nothing.

If the title didn't give it away, this punishment is an absolute travesty.

It makes no sense to punish this year's players for violations committed by a different coaching regime. OJ Mayo is long gone. So is Tim Floyd, who lost his job as a result of the accusations he gave Guillory money. Three USC players from last season headed to the pros. Four Trojan recruits jumped ship, with three landing at Arizona and one heading to Clemson.

Only four players remain from that 2007-2008 team - Dwight Lewis, Marcus Simmons, Kasey Cunningham, and Ryan Wetherall. Lewis is the only starter. Kevin O'Neill, the current coach of the Trojans, was coaching conference foe Arizona at the time.

What does all that mean?

The kids paying the punishment for OJ Mayo and Tim Floyd breaking the rules are not Mayo or Floyd.

It is Mike Gerrity, the two-time transfer who finally landed on his feet with the Trojans. It is Alex Stephenson, who transferred from UNC the season before they won a national title to be closer to his ailing father and to get more playing time. It is Marcus Johnson, who was very close to leaving school to pursue a professional career along with Taj Gibson, Demar Derozan, and Daniel Hackett. It is Dwight Lewis, Nikola Vucevic, and all the other Trojans who decided to remain with the program despite facing a few seasons that looked to be a lost cause.

This would be much less of an issue if USC's basketball team was, in fact, terrible this year, as many (including myself) predicted they would be.

But they aren't.

In fact, they may actually be the best team in the Pac-10.

Before Oregon's win over Washington on Saturday, they were the only team in the league to notch a win over a ranked opponent, beating both Tennessee and UNLV in non-conference play. After sweeping the Arizona schools this past weekend, they are sitting atop the league at 2-0. Since the addition of Gerrity solidified their point guard position, the Trojans have won eight straight, and are arguably the hottest team in the country.

Mike Gerrity and the rest of the current Trojans are the ones paying the price for Mayo and Floyd.
(photo credit: LA Times)

This is a team that could realistically have won both the Pac-10 regular season and tournament titles.

This is a team that had a great chance of not only making the NCAA Tournament, but also winning a game.

This team was the feel good story of the 2009-2010 basketball season.

And all that is gone because Garrett decided to bring the hammer down on the basketball program and a group of kids that had nothing at all to do with the violations they are being punished for.

Which brings me back to the football team.

Why hasn't that program been punished?

Maybe because they win titles. Maybe because they are the most visible athletics program USC has. Maybe because USC doesn't want to have their BCS bowls and Pac-10 titles vacated. Maybe because the money that the football program brings in is greater than the money that the basketball team does.

Mike Garrett said this in the statement released today announcing the self-imposed sanctions: "When we've done something wrong, we have an obligation to do something about it and that is exactly what we are doing here."

And he's right.

The basketball program does need to face some sanctions.

Which is why I would have no problem with the school vacating the season Mayo played, or the team losing recruiting days, or even having their number of scholarships reduced.

But why hasn't the football team been punished?

And why is it necessary to take away the postseason from this group of kids?

Gary Parrish says it best:

Either way, the whole thing is a laughable mess. And guess who pays the price? The basketball program, that's who. And, so far, it's only the basketball program, which is both shameful and transparent.

I don't think the USC team is laughing.