North Carolina Football: Is Postseason Ban and Loss of Scholarships Justified?

This may not receive much attention in North Carolina because majority of Chapel Hill is focused on March Madness and how far the Tar Heels will advance in the tournament. But this isn't a day of celebration for North Carolina, as their football program has just taken a serious blow that was delivered by the NCAA.

You may remember the ongoing investigation that began in 2010 connecting the program with sports agents. It was later found out to be true as the program was also investigated for failure to monitor players and academic fraud.

It was found that several players had received more than $27,000 in impermissible benefits in 2009 and 2010. That includes things such as money, flights, meals lodging and even jewelry, among other things. A former tutor also provided more than $4,000 in benefits to 11 football student-athletes.

The failure to monitor players violation comes from allowing former student-athletes to continue to use the athletic facilities without handing down any type of punishment.

So what happened to North Carolina?

They're just put on probation for three years, banned from postseason play in 2012 and reduction of 15 total football scholarships over the next three years. That doesn't include the fact that they already vacated the wins from the 2008 and 2009 seasons, fined themselves $50,000 and fired their head coach Butch Davis. They also watched their former athletic director Dick Baddour retire.

Former defensive coordinator John Blake was also issued a "three show-cause" by the NCAA. This means that if an NCAA institution decides to hire him in the next three years, they must provide a good reason for why he's on their staff. Or they could also be punished. 

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This case should serve as a cautionary tale to all institutions to vigilantly monitor the activities of those student-athletes who possess the potential to be top professional prospects, the committee stated in its report. It should also serve to warn student-athletes that if they choose to accept benefits from agents or their associates, they risk losing their eligibility for collegiate competition.

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So is the punishment justified?

If you're going to base this off of past cases, the answer is probably no. Ohio State did everything they could to play nice with the NCAA and self-reported every violation. They got hit with a one year bowl ban, placed on probation and lost scholarships. Similar to North Carolina right?

Well all the Buckeyes did was receive tattoos for their autographs. The Tar Heels covered this up for many years, didn't monitor the situation and didn't try and play nice with the NCAA. Both the former tutor and John Blake refused to cooperate with the investigation.

The USC scandal that involved basketball player OJ Mayo and Reggie Bush? The Trojans banned themselves from postseason play in the NCAA tournament, limited their recruiting and reduced the number of scholarships. The NCAA still handed down a two-year bowl ban, took away Bush's Heisman, took away 30 scholarships in three years and stripped them from their 2004 BCS title.

Losing scholarships and being banned from a bowl game is never good for a program. But when you consider the mess that North Carolina created and what other schools have received, the Tar Heels got off easy.

The NCAA proves once again that no two cases are the same.