USC is hoping that they are able to save their football program by throwing their basketball program under the bus. It's a strategy that has worked elsewhere.
Great column by Dave Gottlieb on ESPN.com on January 6th (Insider content):
Looks like hoops was sacrificed for football at SC
Garrett's move is an attempt to precede the NCAA in their ultimate findings, but it also reeks of both hypocrisy and a soullessness that leaves most in college basketball thinking the same thing: USC does not care about its current basketball players or its basketball program. Instead, USC simply believes -- at least in my mind and that of many others in the sport -- that by giving up its hoop dreams, the NCAA will go light on the school's football program.
There is precedent for this, mind you. Oklahoma star running back Adrian Peterson was seen several times driving a Lexus and starting quarterback Rhett Bomar and offensive lineman J.D. Quinn were getting paid for work they were not doing (both from the same dealership, Big Red Sports and Imports). Bomar and Quinn were eventually dismissed, but the school faced no penalties. Yet the NCAA, along with the school, hammered Kelvin Sampson for more than 500 illegal phone calls.
Trust me, many Big 12 followers snickered. It's their belief that hoops, almost always less of a money-maker than football, is generally "thrown under the bus" in cases like this. In the Big Ten, Ohio State self-imposed a postseason ban, fired coach Jim O'Brien in 2004 (he later sued for breach of contract and won) and took away scholarships. Yet when Maurice Clarett, star running back of the 2002 national championship team, later said he was given money and other gifts, nothing ever came of the investigation.
Think about it realistically for a second. Look at the scandals in college sports over the past 20 years. Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio State and Indiana have all been on basketball probation in the Big Ten alone (and Northwestern had a point-shaving scandal), yet no one in the league has broken a rule so severe that there has been a major scandal on the football side? Come on....
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