USC Should Fear College Football's "Spanish Inquisition"

Larry Burton (Panama City Beach, Fl) Make no mistake about it, the most powerful group of people in college football are the people who comprise a group called the Committee of Infractions for the NCAA. They are the Spanish Inquisition, the Supreme Court, the district attorney and the judge, jury and executioner all rolled up into one.

Pictured above is Paul Dee, Former A.D. of the University of Miami and Chairperson of the group of 10, or as they're known by teams facing their wrath, "The group of 10 to weigh the sin".

This is a group whose membership up to now, has been almost a guarded secret as is how they work, investigate, and determine who sits on this powerful committee that can make or break an entire school's athletic program.

Presently, the members are Dee, Missy Conboy, a Notre Dame athletic dept employee for 22 years, Temple law professor Eleanor Meyers, Dennis Thomas, commissioner of the Mid American Conference, Britton Banosky, commissioner of Conference USA, Rodney Uphoff, also an attorney and professor at Missouri, Roscoe Howard, former U.S. Attorney, Josephine Potuto, a law professor at Nebraska, and Oregon law professor James O'Fallon.

However members sitting on a particular case can change, and existing members can be and are "excused" if they are from a school in the same conference as the one being tried.

For USC, O'Fallon will be dropped and Joesphine Potuto will come out of retirement to take his place for this one case. That is bad news for USC as Potuto is known for being the hardest questioner and the pit bull of the committee.

She is one of the reasons the USC case has drug out so long, rather than go in with half the facts, she has guided them to wait patiently to get all the facts and then proceed.

The problem for USC is, the more facts that come out, the worse off they are.

This is the longest investigation in the history of the NCAA and the Committee on Infractions (COI). The charges are indeed grave and the penalties could be severe. Potuto and Dee want to get it right as there is the possibility of the dreaded "lack of institutional control" charge that could be akin to a death penalty for an athletic program.

The heart of the investigation is that now NFL superstar Reggie Bush received improper benefits from not one but multiple agents, including the use of a free house for his family among other perks, that former basketball star O.J. Mayo also received money and gifts from his agent, and more recently that running back Joe McKnight was improperly given use of a car.

The school has already in effect pleaded guilty in these things may have happened, but are now trying to show that they did not know that they were happening at the time they were going on. In other words, despite USC fans hoping it will be proven that these things did not happen, USC has already admitted they did in fact happen. They now are only pleading the severity of the charges and their complicity in the events.

That may be a hard sell as evidence shows Pete Carroll in the dressing room posing for pictures with some of the agents in question in postgame celebrations and testimony that was given by other players and coaches as well.

Though the hearings and testimony given to the committee is private and supposedly confidential, there have been leaks in the past that show Potuto, the smallest person in the room, has the biggest bite. Her line of questioning in the past case of Florida State shows her ability to corner and expose the wrongdoers.

It's ironic that she has served her limit of terms and was called out of retirement only because O'Fallon could not sit. She is the one person USC was hoping not to face.

The committee has already met and gotten it's testimony. Carroll appeared with new coach Lane Kiffin to face the heat in person and former basketball coach Tim Floyd, another big witness, may have testified by closed circuit TV, and the others by whatever means the committee agreed to.

The committee started by making opening remarks, laying out the charges and then asking questions. Each committee member may ask any question as well as any number.

This is where cases are won or lost as witnesses responses are "judged" by the members. In other words, there does not have to be a preponderance of the evidence, but members can express their decisions based on simply their feeling of whether or not witnesses were truthful or forthcoming.

From past cases, grown men were reduced to whimpering boys by the line of questioning imposed and penalties were handed down accordingly. Carroll left the Tempe meeting visibly shaken according to some witnesses, a sign that his questioning did not go well.

Following the last testimony, the committee then met to discuss the case and come up with a verdict. One person is then assigned the task of formerly writing up the committee's opinion and verdict. That could come out in another four weeks or so.

This committee does this work solely because of their love for athletics and their willingness to keep it pure. They receive no pay, work long 12 hour days for days at a time, and for one unlucky member, comes the charge of writing up the final opinion of the committee that takes much work.

The process of landing on the committee is by invitation only and comes usually because of your work in showing knowledge and passion for college sports and your ability to see and communicate your points.

Such an example was Alabama law professor Gene Marsh, who served from 1999 to 2008. His pleading on behalf of Alabama showed the committee his knowledge of not only the rules, but his insight and passion. Following the Alabama's case closure, he was asked to serve and he did for all those years.

This how almost all the members have found their way to the board. It is a thankless job that usually makes decisions that never pleases everyone.

Such will certainly be the case of the USC case. For some, the penalties won't be hard enough, for others, it's far too severe, but in the end, the greater good is done for the NCAA and college football.