Did they or didn't they? I don't know but the potential scandal brewing out in Stillwater highlights one of the biggest problems facing college football since the early days. Can secondary programs keep up with the heavy hitters without bending or breaking the rules?
Now Okie State fans, calm down. I did not mean anything by the word "secondary". The first group, containing the likes of Alabama, Ohio State, Texas, etc. (and, yes, Oklahoma) is not very big. It is very exclusive and can maintain its preeminence by using their considerable prestige and spending boatloads of cash. Sure they can be down--just ask Texas and USC right now how they feel--but they will not be for long because they can buy whatever and whomever they want. It is their ball and if you want to play you have to abide by their rules. Can a school like Oklahoma State, with donors willing to pay for new facilities and coaches (and possibly more), truly become a top ten team by being true to the rulebook?
This issue has come to light in the past, perhaps never more sharply than in the 1980s. After decades of dominance by programs like USC, Alabama, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Ohio State, upstart teams like Clemson, Miami and BYU suddenly won national championships. Were we entering a new age of parity? Clemson almost immediately was placed on probation, heightening the fans' and media's distrust of how legit these programs could be. But some of those programs, like Miami, Florida and Florida State were there to stay thanks to a sudden increase in talent in their home state, while other programs, like Oregon, were about to move up in class thanks to an influx of money. But once the dust settled and some punishments--to upstarts and traditional powers--levied, the traditional guys took over once again. By the 2000s Oklahoma, Alabama, Texas, Ohio State, LSU and Florida began to dominate the nation's top spot due to the wiser use of their money. North Carolina fancied themselves an up-and-coming program until a then-struggling Texas swiped coach Mack Brown. Nick Saban did not leave a Conference USA program to take over LSU but Michigan State, the ultimate secondary school in the Big Ten. Once he bolted for the NFL, LSU swiped Les Miles from Oklahoma State even though Okie State thought they were just as good as the Tigers. And when guys like Nick Saban and Urban Meyer return to college coaching they do so for only the best jobs: Alabama and Ohio State.
So there may be a scandal brewing in Oklahoma State? No one, sadly, is surprised. The question is, who's next?
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