BTI's Rants and Ramblings: Truth or Myth-SEC is the Dirtiest Conference?

These guys were dirty individually, but what about their conferences? I would be willing to bet that if you polled sports fans around the nation and asked them who they thought was the dirtiest conference in America, the SEC would win that poll.  Especially in football, the SEC has gotten the reputation of finding ways around the rules, or flat out disobeying them.  But, is that opinion actually accurate?  Does the SEC have the dirtiest schools in college athletics.  Well, over the next 2 days, I'll try and figure that out.  Amazingly, the NCAA keeps a very thorough database of all the schools who have committed MAJOR violations since 1953.  Today, we analyze college basketball.  College Basketball Vacated Wins by Conference 251 wins-Big 10: Michigan (114), Ohio State (82), Minnesota (36), Purdue (19) 92 wins-Pac-10: California (28), USC (21), Oregon St. (17), Arizona (19), UCLA (5), Arizona St. (2) 58 wins-Big East:St.Johns (46), Depaul (6), Villanova (4), UCONN (2) 28 wins-ACC: Florida State (24), Clemson (2), Maryland (2) 9 wins-SEC: Florida (3), Alabama (2), Georgia (2), Kentucky (2) 5 wins-Big 12: Missouri (3), Texas Tech (2) 17 mid-major programs have also had to vacate a combined 306 wins. Note: Loyola Marymount, Marshall, and NC State have vacated games on their record, but only in losses.  Yes, games can be vacated that were losses.  For instance, Memphis' loss in the NCAA Championship in 2008 was vacated. OK, so the Big 10 is far and away the conference that has been hammered the most in the win-loss column due to infractions, but Steve Fisher and Jim O'Brien can almost single-handedly be thanked for that.  2 guys does not a dirty conference make.  Otherwise, the WAC would forever been considered dirty thanks to Jerry Tarkanian.  What we can say is that the Big 10 has had the biggest of the big violations, but which conference has had the most overall MAJOR violations?   ________________________________________________________ Before reading those numbers, consider this about the stat below.  Just because a men's basketball program committed major violations does not mean it committed those EXCLUSIVELY.  In many of the cases below, several of a school's sports programs were grouped together on the punishment list.  So, while the basketball team may have broken the rules, other programs at the school may have committed the most serious violations.  There is no way to tell from the information the NCAA gave.  Anywho, here are the schools who have been included on a major violations report:     College Basketball MAJOR Infractions Cases Since 1953 (NCAA reference, click here) 24 cases-Big East:Cincinnati (5), West Virginia (3), Louisville (3),  St. Johns (2), Depaul (2), Seton Hall (2), UCONN, Villanova, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, Syrcause, South Florida, Notre Dame 23 cases-SEC: Kentucky (4), Georgia (3), Auburn (3), South Carolina (3), Alabama (2), Arkansas (2), LSU (2),  Florida (2), Mississippi State (2) 20 cases-Big 10: Minnesota (5), Ohio State (3), Wisconsin (3), Illinois (3), Purdue (2), Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, Michigan St. 18 cases-ACC: Florida State (4), NC State (4), Wake Forest (2), Clemson (2), Maryland (2), Duke, Miami, North Carolina, Georgia Tech 17 cases-Big 12: Kansas (5), Baylor (3), Texas A&M (3), Oklahoma (2), Missouri (2), Texas Tech, Kansas St. 13 cases-Pac-10: UCLA (3), California (2), Arizona (2), USC, Washington (2), Arizona State, Oregon St., Oregon (Note: Mid-Major teams have a total of 151 MAJOR violations cases since 1953.)  OK, that stat doesn't bode as well for the SEC as the vacated wins stat.  Nine of the SEC's members have MULTIPLE major violations to their records.  Umm, ouch?  ________________________________________________________ What about which percentage of each conference's teams have experienced a major violation?  These conference affiliations relate to the ones from the 2010-11 season, and do not reflect the conference realignment coming next season. Big 10: 9 of 11 teams (82%) Big East: 13 of 16 teams (81%) Pac-10: 8 of 10 teams (80%) SEC: 9 of 12 teams (75%) ACC: 9 of 12 teams (75%) Big 12: 7 of 12 teams (58%) Look, what does all this mean?  I don't know if you can say but 1 thing about all of this: COLLEGE ATHLETICS ARE QUITE DIRTY.  And they have been dirty since the NCAA started keeping track in 1953.  Someone will have to explain how a school such as Minnesota, Kansas, or Cincinnati can commit major violations 5 TIMES in their history, and the NCAA has not canned their programs yet?  Until the NCAA grows a set of cajones and ends a major program (never going to happen), then you can't blame programs for trying. Oh, and the Big 10 is the dirtiest college basketball conference in history. Tomorrow: College Football