"It's too early to tell, there are no specifics to be had," BCS spokesman Charles Bloom said when asked about the possibility of sanctions. "The commissioner doesn't like to deal in hypotheticals. There are so many issues and so little information."
It is doubtful that BCS bowl money would have to be returned in such a case. While taking away a title would be largely symbolic, at least there would be some process in place if a BCS champion was guilty of wrongdoing.
Draft droppings
The NFL Draft isn't always an indicator of a college program's relative strength. But for our notes column purposes, it is. Read on:
Today's Final Jeopardy answer: Cal Poly, Abilene Christian, Alabama State, Northwestern State, Grambling.
The question: What teams had more players taken in the NFL Draft before Michigan saw its first player go off the board in the fourth round?
Michigan defensive tackle Gabe Watson was taken No. 107 overall by Arizona.
The draft is just one measure of a program's strength. In this case it's a pretty good one because, by any measure, Michigan's Lloyd Carr is one of the high-profile coaches on the hot seat going into 2006.
Last year's 7-5 record -- including an embarrassing loss to Nebraska in the Alamo Bowl -- was this program's worst in two decades.
Last weekend's draft was an extension of those woes. Embarrassing? First-day picks: Ohio State 7, Michigan 0.
Total Michigan draft picks: three. The rest of Big Ten: 38.
Not only that, seven of the league's 10 other teams had as many or more picks than Michigan.
- Miami barely kept alive its string of 12 straight seasons with a first-round choice. Seattle took cornerback Kelly Jennings at No. 31.
- Final damage estimate on Matt Leinart staying in school an extra year: $10 million to $13 million. That's an educated guess on how much less in salary and bonus Leinart forfeited by sticking around. Had he come out in 2005, Leinart probably would have been the No. 1 pick in the draft. He slipped to No. 10 (to the Cardinals) on Sunday. Was it worth it?
Bowl fallout
We all know there are too many bowls. The NCAA certified four more last week at a time when the Houston Bowl still owes money to last year's participants.
That brings the total to 31 -- or 32 if Houston gets its act together. That would mean 54 percent of I-A football would be playing bowl games.
Get used to it. The NCAA figured out long ago that it's easier letting the market decide which bowls belong, rather than applying an unreasonable set of strictures.
Plus, the addition of the 12th game means there will be more "inventory" for those bowls. As expected, the NCAA Executive Committee established the bowl eligibility benchmark at 6-6.
Essentially, all start-up bowls have to produce is a $2 million letter of credit, a stadium and a gaggle of volunteers. Last week, the International Bowl (Toronto), New Mexico Bowl, Birmingham Bowl and the BCS title game got the thumbs up.
Remember when critics said the BCS would kill the second-tier bowls? They're flourishing.
