In the midst of the mega-conference expansions, USC has been slapped with harsh penalties for NCAA violations. On Thursday, the committee announced USC’s football program would forfeit 13 wins (won during the time of the violations), an Orange Bowl victory, two-year bowl ban, and 30 docked scholarships.
The controversy surrounds high profile athletes Reggie Bush and basketball star OJ Mayo. The allegations first surfaced four years ago, when sports agents and marketing reps gave airline tickets to the Bush family.
The fate of Bush’s 2005 Heisman Trophy is not decided by the NCAA but by the Heisman Trust.
Somewhere Tennessee football fans are smiling. After USC head coach Pete Carroll left the Trojans, Tennessee football coach Lane Kiffin left to take the job. Carroll is the new coach of the NFL Seattle Seahawks, while Kiffin will have to overcome recruitment hurdles because of the NCAA violations.
When asked about the sanctions Carroll said, “The agenda of the NCAA Infractions Committee took them beyond the facts. The facts don’t merit the sanctions.”
USC is hopping to appeal the penalties. In 2002, Alabama suffered similar consequences a two-year bowl ban and forfeited 21 scholarships for similar NCAA violations.
