Just another day in Gainesville

Say what you will about Billy Napier, at least he runs a clean program.. oh, wait.

The Florida Gators’ football program is under NCAA investigation.

The investigation has been underway since at least the summer. On June 9, the NCAA sent UF President Ben Sasse a notice of inquiry. That’s a formal document enforcement staff sends to schools alerting them of the investigation before interviewing any school employees or athletes.

The Tampa Bay Times requested the letter in October. The request was initially denied but fulfilled Friday after inquiries from the Times’ legal counsel at Thomas & LoCicero.

“We have been and will continue to cooperate with the NCAA,” Gators spokesperson Steve McClain said. “We hold ourselves to high standards of excellence and integrity on and off the field. Because we follow NCAA policies about maintaining confidentiality, we are unable to offer additional comments.”

The specific nature of the investigation and potential violations are not specified in the document.

The Gator Standard ain’t what it used to be.

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UPDATE:   The cherry on top of the sundae…

Florida is under NCAA investigation regarding the recruitment of QB Jaden Rashada, industry sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. Rashada signed w/UF but was released from letter of intent & is currently at Arizona State. @MBakerTBTimes 1st reported NCAA was investigating UF

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) January 19, 2024

“There is strength in numbers…”

Impeccable timing here:  while the NCAA was groveling before Congress asking for antitrust relief in the eleventh hearing on the subject, the Department of Justice said, “enough of this shit”.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday joined a multi-state lawsuit challenging the NCAA’s transfer eligibility rules, specifically in regard to multi-time transfers being required to sit out a year-in-residence before returning to competition.

The original lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia in December, was brought forth by seven states’ attorneys general and led by Ohio. It argued that the NCAA’s multi-time transfer rule served as an illegal restraint on college athletes under the Sherman Antitrust Act by hindering athletes’ ability to sell their name, image and likeness (NIL) and control their education. In addition to the DOJ, attorneys general from Minnesota, Mississippi, Virginia and the District of Columbia also joined on Thursday.

I don’t think I need to tell you who’s gonna come out on the winning side of this argument.

The NCAA’s problem here is that its position lacks any logical basis.  If you’re going to take the stance that college athletes aren’t employees, how can you impose a form of a non-compete clause on their right to change schools?

Money, honey

Just a reminder that, at least when it comes to P5 athletic budgets, the real issue isn’t whether there’s enough money to pay for things, but simply a matter of prioritization

And for the "we can't afford to pay the athletes" crowd: Rutgers spends more on administrative/support salaries ($25.7 million) than scholarships ($21.8m), while "overhead and administrative expenses" have gone up 20.7% ($13.3m). 2/2

— Steve Politi (@StevePoliti) January 19, 2024

Remember, too, that scholarship costs are basically a bookkeeping entry for schools.