When we first wrote about the FSU cheating scandal in September, it was limited to 23 athletes in several sports. But, St. Nick has given us an early Christmas present.
Excuse me for a moment.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!
Sorry about that. Let's learn more.
Wow. Not only are these kids going to be suspended, but they are going to have to suck it up and take it like a man. Very classy, FSU.
FSU discovered the incidents of cheating with an internal investigation, so maybe that lessens the impact of a NCAA penalty. But 20 football players is a quarter of the team. That is unbelievable.
Originally, you could make the case that there was a few rogue tutors, and that snowballed to 23 kids. Having 20 on the football team, plus the unknown number among the other sports, now puts the Seminoles in the crosshairs of investigators.
There is something else to consider here. If you read Michael Lewis' The Blind Side, you know how much internet courses can help a student. If the FSU situation leads to the NCAA looking at the validity of internet courses, that would affect every major college athletics program. If that happens, colleges will have to look at other ways to help athletes struggling academically.
In terms of football, the FSU players would miss the bowl game and likely games against Western Carolina and UT-Chattanooga. If those aren't the first two games of the season, the players could miss the Colorado game and the ACC opener, with those being games two and three.
(Also, anytime you can make a reference to a random Everclear song, it's a good day.