USC Punished Hard for 2004 Recruiting Violations

ESPN reported today that the NCAA is going to strip USC of at least their wins in 2004, any scholarships for the next two seasons, and any postseason bowl games for the next two seasons. The punishments are due to their 2004 recruiting violations. This is a pretty crazy punishment on the Trojans, who will likely be stripped of their 2004 National Championship by the BCS. In addition, there is a more-than-likely chance that Reggie Bush's Heisman Trophy will be vacated. When asked about the possibility of having it repossessed to him, former Texas Longhorns quarterback Vince Young told ESPN's Joe Schad that he wanted no part of that.

When you really look at it, these punishments are a massive blow for new head coach Lane Kiffin and his USC Trojans. Not only will they be stripped of their biggest accomplishment in recent memory, but they will have a very difficult time maintaining their standing as an elite program without the ability to compete for a national title. When Kiffin walks into the living rooms of high school football players, it will be very difficult to persuade them to choose USC with the knowledge that they cannot go into their freshman year with the chance to win a ring. Additionally, the banning of scholarships will make it that much more challenging to bring in top recruits like they have in the past. With all of this considered, are these punishments too harsh?

I believe they are. If I'm entering my junior year this season at USC, I'm incredibly upset about this. The current juniors and seniors on this USC squad were freshmen and sophomores in high school during USC's 2004 season. They had nothing to do with this scandal, but they are being deprived of their chance to win a national title now. If I'm the one laying the punishments, I think you have to keep the kids in mind. College kids playing their last games of football in a school environment. There's never a bigger sense of pride. And now they are, essentially, playing for nothing. I just think the NCAA needs to think of a better way to go about this. Fine them -- fine. Strip their '04 championship -- fine. There were illegal things going on during that title, so it is fair to strip it. Take away their scholarship use -- fine. Those players aren't there yet, so that's a reasonable punishment to the program. But to punish the kids currently on that team, I just find that plain and simply unfair. They did nothing wrong. And now they've taken a huge blow for the mistakes of others.