Big-money sports football and men's basketball were involved in 83 percent of NCAA Division I major infractions cases from 1953 to 2014, according to the first study of its kind released Tuesday. Probation and public reprimand and censure were the most common penalties.
Temple's Sport Industry Research Center prepared the study for the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions.
The most common infractions over the 61 years analyzed were recruiting inducements (57 percent), impermissible benefits (54 percent) and other recruiting violations (48 percent). The most common penalties were probation (87 percent) and public reprimand and censure (86 percent). Recruiting restrictions were a distant third (50 percent).
Schools from the so-called Power Five conferences accounted for 40 percent of major infractions cases since 1953. There was no evidence those schools were treated differently in the penalty phase when compared with schools from outside the Power Five.
An atmosphere of compliance in athletic departments has developed over the past three decades, with 48 percent of violations since 1984 having been self-reported. Before 1984, only 9 percent of violations were self-reported.
Generally, self-reporting benefited the institution when it came to the penalty phase, the study found.
NHL
St. Louis lands Winter Classic
St. Louis, left without an NFL team, got a boost Tuesday: The NHL's 2017 Winter Classic outdoor game will be played Jan. 2 at Busch Stadium, and the opponent is rival Chicago.
The Blues had expected to be awarded an outdoor game, but not the premier event, the Winter Classic.
