"Anyway, while I find some of the guesses about NCAA penalties to be amusing (how can anyone know what the penalties will be when the NCAA hasn’t even heard the university’s response?), I do anticipate Ole Miss is going to get hit fairly hard when the penalties come down.
Why? Common sense. Here’s the deal: The NCAA has been digging on Ole Miss since 2013. For more than three years, investigators have been performing a veritable colonoscopy on Hugh Freeze’s program. The following is just my opinion, so take that for what it’s worth:
The NCAA believes Ole Miss cheated. However, the NCAA can’t prove Ole Miss cheated. The lack of evidence of said cheating hasn’t changed the opinion of the NCAA that Ole Miss’ 2013 recruiting class was too good to be true. So while the NCAA isn’t going to be able to hammer Ole Miss for sexy charges like pay-for-play on the recruiting trail, there are serious charges in the notice of allegations that gives the NCAA the ability to severely punish Ole Miss.
The NCAA has always crucified academic fraud, and the Saunders-related charges are serious. Laremy Tunsil served a seven-game suspension but I won’t be remotely surprised if the NCAA determines that’s not enough of a punishment for his receiving extra benefits."
Why? Common sense. Here’s the deal: The NCAA has been digging on Ole Miss since 2013. For more than three years, investigators have been performing a veritable colonoscopy on Hugh Freeze’s program. The following is just my opinion, so take that for what it’s worth:
The NCAA believes Ole Miss cheated. However, the NCAA can’t prove Ole Miss cheated. The lack of evidence of said cheating hasn’t changed the opinion of the NCAA that Ole Miss’ 2013 recruiting class was too good to be true. So while the NCAA isn’t going to be able to hammer Ole Miss for sexy charges like pay-for-play on the recruiting trail, there are serious charges in the notice of allegations that gives the NCAA the ability to severely punish Ole Miss.
The NCAA has always crucified academic fraud, and the Saunders-related charges are serious. Laremy Tunsil served a seven-game suspension but I won’t be remotely surprised if the NCAA determines that’s not enough of a punishment for his receiving extra benefits."