'Death Penalty' A Relic Of the Past

When SMU took the field again in 1989, new coach Forrest Gregg, an SMU alumnus and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, had a team largely comprising walk-ons. But during a pep rally, the optimistic Gregg said it would take SMU less than a decade to play in the Cotton Bowl. The Mustangs haven't been to a bowl game since 1984.

"I don't think the NCAA knew what they were doing when they did it," Gregg said last week. "They didn't have anything to go by other than hitting SMU with the best thing they had. If they had known, they probably wouldn't have done it."

Some former infraction committee members and investigators said the penalty could be imposed again if the circumstances warrant. But Clark believes other schools that have exhibited the same disregard for rules have avoided the death sentence because the NCAA wants to protect its self-interests.

"The underlying implication is that the NCAA is a de facto cartel, and the purpose of a cartel is to protect the product," Clark said. "And to impose penalties that are too severe destroys the product -- and that they don't want to have happen."

Berst, who now is the NCAA Division I vice president, responded by saying, "That doesn't sound like anyone that has any significant understanding of enforcement."

Cooperation Is the Key

In a sense, Berst said SMU's case illustrated the old-fashioned way to deal with investigations: don't disclose information and attempt to avoid detection over a long period of time. Decades ago, schools did not have compliance officers to help teams follow rules. Some schools became confrontational during investigations.

Over the past 20 years, schools have self-reported violations and have become more cooperative during the investigation process, which often reduces penalties. Hale McMenamin, an NCAA investigator from the 1970s through the '90s, said: "Once the enforcement and the schools started working together on processing these allegations, then it made the hearings much smoother. It was not as much confrontation. I saw a distinct change in my latter days."

In the most severe examples of cheating since SMU's punishment, the NCAA cited unique circumstances that enabled the school to avoid the organization's harshest punishment. In its final reports on violations, the NCAA specifically mentioned the death penalty as a possible punishment in only five cases since 1987, but each school's cooperation with the investigation helped diminish the punishments.

In 2005, Baylor was forced to eliminate nonconference men's basketball games for a season but avoided losing an entire season because the NCAA said the school took "decisive" action after it learned of violations that were committed under former coach Dave Bliss. The school self-imposed penalties that included a postseason ban.

Perhaps no school came closer than Alabama to receiving the death penalty. In separate incidents, football team boosters gave thousands of dollars and other perks to a high school coach and a player and his father in attempt to steer players to Alabama. In 2002, the Crimson Tide was banned from appearing in a bowl game for two years, but infractions committee chair Tom Yeager said the team would have received the penalty had the school not been cooperative.

"Alabama was every bit as severe as ours," Bennett said. "I think they can thank SMU for the fact that they didn't have to shut down for a season."

While he was a member of the infractions committee, Swank said the death penalty was mentioned but never seriously considered during deliberations about punishment. Still, he and the NCAA's Berst believe having the penalty available acts as a deterrent.