Bernie Fine Scandal: Winning Will Preserve Jim Boeheim's Future at Syracuse

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim is winning basketball games and has his team ranked No. 1 in the country despite the disturbing molestation allegations centered on his former assistant Bernie Fine.

The Orange are undefeated through 10 games this season, and if the trend continues expect Boeheim to be patrolling the bench for the long run.

Boeheim has coached at Syracuse for 36 seasons and won a national championship in 2003, but the level of success he achieves this season is all that matters now.

If his squad continues to win ball games and can snag a top seed in the NCAA tournament, then the focus will be on Syracuse basketball, the positive, and not on Syracuse's scandal, the negative.

Just recently, two of Bernie Fine's accusers filed a defamation suit against the university and Boeheim, which is sure to keep the legendary hoops head man on the hot seat for the rest of the season.

Still, Boeheim is an innocent man at this point in the game. This isn't Penn State and Joe Paterno. It's been said before and should be stated again: There were no grand jury reports; there were no witnesses. 

As the head coach, Boeheim is the man most responsible for how those in the program conduct themselves, and is the obvious fall guy if things get too out of control in the near future, but winning is powerful.

It cures many things and satisfies the American desire for instant gratification.

This is to take nothing away from the alleged victims in this case, and Fine has certainly done enough to warrant our suspicions, but Boeheim has and continues to do what the school pays him to do:

Win.

The sad fact in today's world of "amateur" college athletics is that coaches are paid to win, often times by any means necessary.

There are scandals involving money and improper benefits, sure, but the more recent scandals involving child sexual abuse seem to edge far closer to the line.

When does winning come second?

Those in charge at Penn State knew enough in the very beginning to sacrifice winning and tradition for doing the right thing, but even the horrors of alleged child sexual abuse weren't enough to push them over the fence.

Winning garners attention, and attention is money in today's world. 

The greed of making money, being relevant and living the good life has led to the destruction of Penn State's football program, the school's reputation and the lives of all those involved.

There isn't yet enough information to render a decision on the Bernie Fine scandal's impact at Syracuse, but a raucous crowd cheering behind Boeheim's unbeaten bench is all the motivation the university needs to stand up for its head man.