Audio By Carbonatix
Keep Dallas Observer Free
We’re aiming to raise $10,000 by April 26. Your support ensures Dallas Observer can continue watching out for you and our community. No paywall. Always accessible. Daily online and weekly in print.
The Washington Post reports this morning that the NCAA’s “death penalty” is dead — thanks to what it did to SMU, which hasn’t been to a bowl game since 1984 and is a woeful 1-4 this season. Coach Phil Bennett, who is 17-42 during his six years on the Hilltop, describes the punishment as “the Scarlet ‘D'” that still horse-collars the Mustangs 20 years after the punishment was handed down: “Nobody knew the devastation the death penalty would do to this program.” Writes The Post‘s Eric Prisbell:
Since SMU received the punishment, 29 programs in various sports have been eligible for the death penalty — meaning two sets of major NCAA rules violations occurred at a school within a five-year period — according to an NCAA database. All were spared. And because of the long-lasting effect on SMU, some observers familiar with NCAA investigations question whether the penalty ever will be imposed again.
In other words: Sorry, SMU. Our bad. –Robert Wilonsky
