Penalties don't hurt teams' performance, study finds

The "major penalties" imposed on college football teams who violate NCAA rules — including TV and bowl bans and scholarship reductions — have no impact on the teams' won-lost records, a researcher told the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.

There was no statistical difference in on-field performance between the five years prior to the NCAA penalties and the five years following them, said Chad McEvoy, coordinator of the sports management program at Illinois State University.

Even as the penalties increase in severity — the loss of 10 scholarships versus the loss of five, for instance — the penalized teams lose no more games, he noted.

McEvoy said his research indicates that the penalties are not effective in discouraging cheating in college football programs.

"If the NCAA's penalties do not decrease performance, and the severity of the penalties does not relate to the magnitude of that decreased performance, it seems unlikely that the NCAA's penalty structure has any real value as a deterrent," his report concluded.

"If the penalties aren't penal, why should programs follow the rules?" asked the report.

McEvoy's numbers were not disputed by Gene Marsh, a member of the NCAA Infractions Committee and a law professor at the University of Alabama.

"I'm not surprised by the findings," he said. The NCAA penalties are not designed to cripple a program in future competition, "leaving behind a wasteland" for the school's football players in coming seasons, he said.

Many of the "major infractions" as defined by the NCAA do not give a competitive advantage to a college's football team, he said. For example, a booster who improperly enticed a recruit could draw a penalty and the recruit might never play a down for the penalized team, Marsh explained.

The commission has issued several reports that prompted the NCAA to raise academic standards for college athletes and to consider broader reforms. Its agenda included discussion of NCAA penalties for major rules violations.

There is a widespread call for tougher penalties, said Mike Glazier, founder of a law firm that specializes in representing colleges, conferences and individuals in NCAA infraction cases.

But Glazier noted that about two-thirds of all NCAA infraction cases are self- reported and cautioned that stiffening penalties might discourage this self-policing. "More often than not, those who do not self-report do not get caught," he said.