College Athletes or the NCAA: Who Should Be Blamed for the Sanctions?

As I scan the newly released AP Top 25 poll results, it is amazing how many programs are currently on probation, heading for sanctions or being investigated. I'm not sure if the numbers have ever been this staggering.

Recruiting is and probably always will be a dirty game. Especially as long as the current set of NCAA rules create the narrow pathway to collegiate athletic "righteousness."

It is shame that when a program like Boise St. is able to sustain a relatively decent track record of success, fans look at them with a suspicious eye.

What is a team with a blue field, in the middle of Idaho doing to attract elite talent? There are no more Cinderella stories without everyone expecting the other slipper to drop.

It isn't just football, though, as it seems to manifest itself more in that sport where physical superiority is much more of a prerequisite.

In other sports, namely basketball, this issue is present. In hoops, many players were beginning to bypass the collegiate step, as not to kid anyone about their monetary interest in the business.

This option was outlawed and the reason given was that it was bad for the game.

Really? A large percentage of the household names in the NBA over the last 15 years went this route before the road was blocked; Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Jermaine O'Neal to name some of the most prominent.

Do you think the present would be drastically different for Kevin Durant if had not spent that year at the University of Texas?

This piece examines some of the situations facing collegiate athletes.