Cheat sheet: Some law and order restored

Sometime between the end of last year and a couple of months ago a lot of Group of Five football fans must have come to this conclusion.

E.J. Warner (third from left) at his dad’s Hall of Fame induction. Above, he throws a touchdown against Rutgers nine years later. Maybe Temple wins that game this year.

“Why don’t we cheat? The NCAA won’t enforce its rules anyway.”

There was some logic to that opinion but a couple of things happened in the last week to counter that argument.

As Blazeman pointed out in an earlier comment, the NCAA now has the power to crack down on some of the NIL (NLI?) nonsense and that should help–above all–the G5 teams who have unfairly been placed in a position where they cannot compete with the P5.

How much?

Doubtful it will make that much of a difference but unregulated cheating is never a good thing.

Another instance of the NCAA influence is the recent Northwestern hazing scandal.

Head coach Pat Fitzgerald was suspended due to an independent investigation. Had the NCAA not had the power to enforce its rules, a lot of universities would never hold similar investigations and policed themselves. (In 1986, Temple policed itself by voluntarily forfeiting all 11 games due to one of its players signing with an agent but there was no evidence the NCAA would have handed down such a harsh penalty. The Owls would have probably gotten a year bowl ban.)

Baby steps, but steps forward and not backward like we’ve seen since the portal and NIL came into play.

The next step for the G5 in general and Temple, in particular, is to win. The Owls have something no other G5 team can offer the P5: A Top 10 TV market. If the Owls win, they go a long way toward filling seats. If they fill seats, the only available top 10 market in the FBS becomes an appealing carrot that the Temple administration can dangle to a potential P5 suitor.

A big market with an empty stadium does not have much appeal but a big market with proven TV ratings (which Temple already has) makes Temple a viable P5 commodity.

A strong NCAA oversight of this new Wild Wild West makes both possible for Temple and recent evidence seems to suggest that rumors of the NCAA’s enforcement demise may be premature.

Friday: The Ultimate X and O’s vs. Jimmy and Joe’s Game

Monday: What if “they” are right?

10 thoughts on “Cheat sheet: Some law and order restored

  1. How many years behind are we now?

    In 2012 – 2014 TU Athletics
    had a staffer who came from Louisville.

    They were ready to move to the ACC, Strong was the coach, and Terry Bridgewater was the QB.

    I asked the staffer how many years he thought TUFB was behind Louisville. He told me, “Louisville is still about 5 yrs behind Kentucky, and TU is about five years behind Louisville.”

    It’s now 2023. Louisville caught Kentucky, and TUFB has slipped another _____ yrs behind Louisville? Let’s compare TU w/UCF. We are stupid to want something the BOT does not.

    https://ucfknights.exposure.co/mission-xii

  2. I agree with KJ101941. We’ve seen schools elevate their football programs to unbelievable heights. Some of these football programs didn’t even exist when I was a kid. Here we are asking about the riches of the P5, considering who is cheating, etc. The powers that be at Temple don’t want to win. They’d rather give a half-hearted effort to generate excitement but don’t want to give a full commitment to build a successful program year in and year. How many opportunities were squandered to elevate the program? Mike? How much time do you have? I’m not saying Temple can be Bama, but the state of the program can be better with a commitment to excellence.

  3. It’s a losing battle at Temple. Be satisfied in the AAC, go bowling most years and forget about the P5 – it’s just not going to happen at Temple considering everything involved from poor fan support to poor fund raising, poor BOT support to mediocre facilities. Compared to UCF (thanks kj) and other committed schools, well there’s just no comparison and Temple is not in any position to meet the challenge, sorry to say. With more winning, I for one can be satisfied with the AAC.

  4. Just saw a list of top 50 defenses in the country – Tulane, San Antonio, Birmingham and Rutgers were in the second half. As I’ve noted, the AAC (and Rutgers) is still no pushover.

    • Drayton counting chickens before they are hatched. He better have enough chickens to get through 2023. I would give former Liberty running back Dae Dae Hunter a call but that’s just me. That’s worth five roosters.

  5. The worst thing is NOt even any 3-stars!

Leave a reply to joninohio Cancel reply