NCAA Rep On Conference Call: USC Documentation Was Three Feet High

A few fun notes from the USC Conference Call the NCAA held to discuss its hefty sanctioning of the USC Athletic Program:

—Paul Dee, the former AD at the University of Miami, answered the same question about three different times by reminding reporters that the NCAA does not, in fact, award a national championship in college football. That is the business of the BCS, and would be left to them. Some people who cover college football for a living do not understand this, and that should make you very sad.

—But in case you didn’t know that: the vacated wins do not forfeit USC’s 2004 BCS Title. That is left to the AP and to the BCS, and neither works with the other in any organized fashion.

—Dee said that the documentation for the case could be piled up in a pile of papers almost a yard high, “or maybe a inch or two shy of it.” Whether he was making a sly reference to USC coming up an inch or two short on a crucial 4th down in the 2006 Rose Bowl or not, but if so? You’re a sly man, Mr. Dee.

—Dee said USC came very close to getting a television ban, particularly because of the high profile nature of the program.

—The most salient point brought up by Dee in regards to the severity of the punishment was this quote: “High profile athletes require a high level of monitoring,” something he said USC was woefully inattentive to in the case of Student 1 (Reggie Bush) and “Student 2” (O.J. Mayo.) Because they are most susceptible to receiving illegal benefits, they deserve special attention when it comes to monitoring. If you’re looking for a rule the NCAA will cite again in future investigations, this is it.

—USC will appeal the decision. Dee said in the call that an appeal would postpone all of the penalties, but if no change is made that they would simply be pushed back on the calendar until the appeal is completed.