College Football Scandals: 7 Programs That Are Above Suspicion...We Think
For all of the fantastic play on the field, the 2010 college football season will likely be remembered for everything that happened off the field.
It began with the suspension of most of UNC’s defense and ended with Ohio State players trading autographs for tattoos. And then there was this guy Cam Newton—and his dad—who set an NCAA precedent which essentially allows a student-athlete to play and get paid if it’s all done through his or her parents.
Oregon is now being investigated in its recruiting processes and it likely won’t be the only program to get looked at more in depth by the NCAA.
But which programs are the least-likely to make headlines for all the wrong reasons? This slideshow breaks down the seven cleanest programs in all of college football.
Stanford Cardinal
1 of 5
The departure of Jim Harbaugh leaves some question marks as to how clean the Cardinal will stay but he has left his print on new coach David Shaw.
Stanford is known primarily as an academic school and that limits the amount of elite recruits the school has access to, which consequently eliminates a lot of sources for rule-breaking.
Despite the fact that they were busted for an “easy class list,” Stanford should still make this list easily. It’s not like any other student at the school or at any university around the country couldm't find a list of easy classes at their university. The only shocking part of this whole thing is that they needed a paper list to do it all.
At the end of the day, regardless of how well it does in any sport, Stanford will be looked at as one of the premier institutions and foster homes for student-athletes everywhere.
Duke Blue Devils
2 of 5
The basketball powerhouse is the doormat for ACC football, plain and simple. They have one of the longest bowl game droughts in the entire country and a fan base that is frequently outnumbered at its own stadium.
Yet, they have one of the best coaches in the business. David Cutcliffe has flown under the national radar because of the limitations he has at a school that isn’t interested in his sport—but he actually turned down an offer to coach Tennessee. Talk about a smack in the face.
Cutcliffe runs a program built on integrity and working from the ground up and he has no reason to change that philosophy since his is one of the most respected names in the business and any school that tries to hire him away knows that. They may not have the wins to show for it, but Duke runs a clean program.
Cincinnati Bearcats
3 of 5
I tried to find a school in every one of the big six conferences to add to this list and Cincinnati seemed like the obvious choice from the Big East. Unfortunately the Big 12 or SEC couldn’t make the list.
But in all seriousness, the Bearcats are now the perfect team to run a clean ship. It would have been UConn but Randy Edsall left for the murky waters of Maryland. Conversely, the departure of Brian Kelly has made Cincinnati a cleaner program.
The Bearcats are in the unenviable position of competing with Ohio State for recruits and they’re not exactly in a football powerhouse conference of their own. There was some excitement around the program following a trip to the Orange Bowl but it has quickly gone away, given the drop-off in production.
Basically, they are in the same predicament that other small schools are in: land a big recruit and people assume that there is some under-the-table deal that got him there. With no real football history and a pretty apathetic fanbase, the best route for Butch Jones and the Bearcats to take is the noble one.
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Northwestern Wildcats
4 of 5
Another school with high academic standards? Who would’ve guessed?
Northwestern is the GPA booster to the Big 10 and its played that role for decades. But quietly, the Wildcats have improved their revenue sports to the point where they can compete in the postseason. Pat Fitzgerald is one of the main reasons why.
He loves his school and he’s a fantastic coach who has energized a small school around his team. But most of the recruits who could cause an issue for the program wouldn’t want to go to Northwestern, nor could most of them get in. That eliminates most of the problem and the other is eliminated when you take into account an alumni base with no historic roots in football.
I don’t know any Northwestern alumni but my best guess is that they want a clean ship that moves slowly rather than a dirty one that jumps quickly.
Army/Navy/Air Force
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The ultimate triumvirate of clean programs are the military academies. Army, Navy and Air Force are essentially competing with each other for recruits because they know they aren’t going convince many kids to come to a military academy to play football. Kids go to these schools to serve their country and they are treated by some of the most historic programs in college football.
Imagine Cam Newton playing at Navy. He’d get laughed straight out of school because every single person at the university holds themselves to a higher standard. Newton wants to be football-playing entertainer and that goal is shared by a lot of other top high school prospects.
The armed forces haven’t exactly had spectacular seasons as of late but it won’t keep their alumni from being proud and invested in their team. When everything is said and done, that is what matters in college football.
For more news and opinions on Virginia Tech, ACC and national college sports, follow me on Twitter @VT_CaceClosed.
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