Flaunt it, baby, flaunt it.

Just because you’re a mid-major doesn’t mean you have to accessorize like one.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming, which is already in progress.

Now here’s a real shocker:  “Auburn Writer Accuses Bama Of Paying Signee Calloway”.

Bummer, dude.

If you’re somebody for whom being a college football fan means feeling a little downcast lately, I can’t say that I don’t sympathize.

(h/t EDSBS)

They’re coming to see you.

John Pennington posts a mixed bag of suggestions on how the NCAA, with its limited enforcement resources, might better rein in bad behavior on the part of its member institutions.  One idea in particular has some merit for me.

… But in addition to dropping a heavier hammer, the NCAA also must create a greater fear of capture.  Drug tests are given at random.  The IRS pulls a number of tax returns each year for random audits.  A team’s bed checks are often done at random, too.  If the NCAA wants to scare the cheat out of programs, they should also go random.

In addition to following the usual tips and leads, the governing body should pull a different Division I school’s name from a hat once a month.  The body should then outsource the initial dirt-gathering phase to a contracted third-party (in order to get around its current staffing issues).

If the preliminary sweep turns up any unscrupulous behavior, then the NCAA can launch a full-scale investigation.  If not, then the school breathes a sigh of relief.

Either way, coaches and programs would have more incentive to stay clean.  With 12 schools getting random spot-checks each year, the odds of getting caught would rise.  And that is a further deterrence.

My law practice is audited on a regular basis.  Although we don’t know exactly when an audit will be scheduled until we’re contacted, we know that we can expect them over a certain period of time.  The process works well, both as an added motivation for us to follow required procedures, but also as a means of receiving feedback on ways in which we could improve how things are managed.

Of course, as the banking industry has proven time and time again, audits only get positive results when the parties employing the auditors take the audits seriously and act on what turns up.  You never know with the NCAA, but I don’t see how it could be any worse than much of the self-reporting with a wink we’ve seen from many schools  ***cough***Tennessee***cough*** over the past few seasons.

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Close to the edge

Times seemed so good for Nevada.  A landmark win over Boise State to cap a ranked season and a move to the Mountain West all indicated a program on the upswing.

Not so fast, my friends.

The Nevada athletic department is bracing for a $1.5 million cut in state-appropriated funds, a move Wolf Pack athletic director Cary Groth said would “change the face of the department.”

The cuts, which are part of a proposed $59 million university-wide budget reduction at UNR, could threaten Nevada’s ability to maintain Division I status or force the department to cut another sport. The reduction is contingent on the state legislature’s final higher education budget and board of regents deliberations.

“I would say maintaining the integrity of a Division I program is our main focus right now,” Groth said. “We’re right on the line of a few things as is.”

You don’t hear an athletic director say that very often.

Groth doesn’t have a lot of attractive options, either.

… The easiest way for Nevada to find some extra money, aside from cuts to the athletic department staff, would be to reduce scholarships or cut sports. There are problems with that plan, though. First off, the school already cut its ski team in 2010, and it’s at the Division I minimum of six men’s sports already. Which means that whatever sport was cut, it would have to be one of the eight women’s teams, which would cause a problem with Title IX.

As for scholarships, in order to maintain Division I status, a school must award $4 million annually in scholarships. Nevada currently hands out $4.6 million…

Just something for the pay-the-players crowd to keep in mind.  A lot of smaller programs have more serious concerns to deal with.

Don’t cry for me, Columbia.

You’ll have to pardon me if I don’t pick up a shovel to toss some dirt on the grave of Stephen Garcia’s career just yet.

After all, the flip side of being suspended four out of five offseasons is that he’s been reinstated to the team four times in five seasons.

The OBC is nothing if not practical.  If none of the other quarterbacks on South Carolina’s roster are ready to be declared the full-time starter, prepare to hear about Garcia being given one more chance.

Maybe they can bring Ken Stabler in to mentor Garcia.

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UPDATE: Also, this.

… We would remind Carolina fans that Garcia is at worst the second or third best quarterback in the history of your program, took a flyer on your program at a time when other teams were very interested in having him start for them, and has done very little in the way of anything actually nasty or felonious. Dude likes beer, sweet, life-giving beer. At this point it’s Stabler-esque in the charming way, not in the multiple DUI manner.

We would also remind you that every quarterback who ever played under Steve Spurrier has been on the verge of benching at every second of their tenure, so this does not represent a real diversion from the overall historical path of Spurrier quarterback management. If you look at it from a wagering perspective, Garcia will probably still end up being the starter at one point if he’s not thrown off the team. He will likely not be thrown off the team because he’s less malicious and more like the family Labrador who likes to drink beer out of his dog dish, and has one more year to show something like the kind of talent a typical Spurrier quarterback can deliver for NFL scouts: I am just good enough to earn my pension and then immediately retire after spending five years on the bench.