SEC Continues Getting Hit By NCAA Sanctions
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – If the University of Miami needed some hope that the NCAA won't come down hard on it for the Nevin Shapiro scandal, it needs to look no further than the Southeastern Conference.
Mississippi State was hit with sanctions Friday for major infractions by the NCAA. The school escaped serious sanctions despite a booster providing illegal benefits to a player during his recruitment.
According to AL.com, the benefits included a Visa gift card, $200 in cash, $2,000 discount on a car, and a $6,000 offer for the recruit not to visit another school.
With Mississippi State getting slapped Friday, the SEC, the perennial powerhouse conference in college football, has now had six schools commit major infractions since 2009. The saving grace for the SEC has been that no school has been hit with a postseason ban during that time.
The SEC is no stranger to scandal. From 2002-2004, the SEC had four separate programs dealing with postseason bans, according to AL.com. Since then, schools haven't suffered postseason or television bans from the NCAA.
Against that backdrop, the University of Miami will appear before the NCAA's Committee on Infractions this summer to defend itself against charges of lack of institutional control from the NCAA. The investigation has been riddled with problems and UM has already self-imposed a 2-year postseason ban.
Still, the NCAA has all of the punishment options at its disposal and could inflict further punishment on the Hurricanes program for the Nevin Shapiro scandal. If it does, the outcry against the NCAA will only grow.
