That was the chant we heard over and over in the days, weeks and months after the initial allegations surrounding former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky surfaced. Those chants got even louder after longtime head coach Joe Paterno was fired, unfairly in the eyes of some of the most ardent — and blinded — Penn State fans and alums.

The Freeh Report was released on Thursday morning, and it delivered some pretty damning details of aggressive attempts to ensure that Sandusky's horrors were kept quiet, all while attempting to keep the good names of men like Paterno, Tim Curley, Graham Spanier, Gary Schultz and the university intact.

Ironically, those efforts helped destroy the reputations of all.

Joe Paterno did a lot of good things for Penn State in his nearly 46 years as head football coach. Those no longer matter. It no longer matters how much money Paterno gave back. It no longer matters how nice of a man he may have been to someone walking down the street. All those folksy stories that we heard in the hours, days and weeks following Paterno's firing no longer matter.

The lasting legacy of the longtime head coach will now be one of a man who lied and covered up the sexual abuse of children. Really, all you have to do is detach yourself from things for a moment, step back and just think about that. 

Even then, it's not enough for some. Penn State alum and ESPN contributor Matt Millen appeared on SportsCenter on Thursday morning shortly after Louis Freeh's news conference discussing the findings. 

"You can't discount all the good that he's done," Millen said. "He has flaws and it's one of them. This decision here was one of them. It was a mistake."

You certainly can discount all of the good he's done, Matt. You bet he has flaws, this is one of them and it's greater than a lot of the flaws you or I have.

This wasn't a mistake, though. Not at all. This was a calculated decision to cover up rape. That's not a mistake, Matt. That's demonic.

Paterno did hundreds, probably thousands of really good things in his time on earth. There's no denying that. If we look at each one of those in a vacuum, well then he deserves a pat on the back and a "Good job, JoePa!" for each.

But in terms of magnitude, he could have funded a million libraries, won Penn State a national title in every sport and personally tutored each and every student-athlete and it still wouldn't make up for what he allowed to happen under his reign as Penn State head football coach.

When push came to shove, Paterno put himself, those closest to him and the university he worked for ahead of innocent victims of truly unspeakable crimes. At some point, Paterno and the rest of the men in power at Penn State needed to step up and be adults. They thought they were protecting the university by protecting themselves. Instead, they made Penn State the ultimate example of how power can cloud judgment, even when it comes to the most basic of right and wrong decisions.

These men, Paterno included, were trusted to lead Penn State in the right direction. They failed miserably in doing that. That's disgusting by itself. What makes this repulsive, however, is the callous lengths at which they went to cover this up. Their No. 1 concern sure looks to have been how they could make themselves and the university look good, rather then putting an end to these crimes.

As power brokers of that institution, they were looked at to do what's best for the university. They not only failed in doing that, they failed to do what was best for other human beings who couldn't defend themselves.

So what can we do about this? Well, we could do a lot of things. We could tear down the statue of Paterno outside of the football stadium. That probably needs to happen. We could give the Nittany Lions football program the death penalty. That, as well, probably needs to happen.

Who really cares, though?

At the end of the day, taking down a statue and suspending a football program won't ease the pain of the victims. It won't turn back time and allow Paterno et al to do the right thing. No one will.

Perhaps the greatest thing we can do from all of this is learn from it. Sometimes in sports we fall prey to the incredible power that it bestows upon some. It opens the door for money and power. 

One of the strongest paragraphs of The Freeh Report illustrates the types of problems that this causes. 

The "inaction and the concealment on the part of its most senior leaders" trickled down to the bottom of the "University's pyramid of power," the report stated.

"This is best reflected by the janitors' decision not to report Sandusky's horrific 2000 sexual assault of a young boy in the Lasch Building shower. The janitors were afraid of being fired for reporting a powerful football coach."

Again, just step back for a moment and try to digest that. Janitors, who witnessed unspeakably heinous crimes, are afraid to speak up out of fear. This is the environment and culture that was harvested deep inside the Penn State football program, no matter how much things like Peachy Paterno ice cream or the Paterno Library tried to illustrate otherwise.

You can take down the statue. You can rename the library. When it comes down to it, however, there will always be the "total disregard for the safety" of these children who were taken advantage of and preyed upon by a monster of a man.

Those actions were crimes, and for that, Jerry Sandusky will be punished vehemently.

Joe Paterno, on the other hand, wasn't a criminal, at least not in the same gruesome sense that Sandusky is. But he's also apparently not the man we thought he was for much of his tenure and life. 

This is now Paterno's legacy now. He is Penn State.

Stony Brook is looking to change that, though, becoming the first Northeast team to reach the College World Series since Maine earned a trip back in 1986.

Sure, college baseball isn't a huge deal up in New England, and probably never will be. The only college sport that really evokes much interest in these parts is hockey, mostly because the national champion often resides in the region. But Stony Brook's success in the College World Series is a welcomed sight for baseball fans because it serves as a reminder that the Northeast still boasts a pretty impressive talent pool.

That much should be obvious, considering the major league talent that's developed in the aforementioned Cape League and the other crevices of the Northeast. Looking at the recent string of Series winners, though, paints a different picture.

Before South Carolina's back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011, this decade's champs have come from LSU, Fresno State, Oregon State, Texas, Cal State Fullerton, Rice and Miami. Not exactly the most vivid Northeast ties. Now that Stony Brook, a large but unheralded school located on the North Shore of Long Island, has risen to prominence, Northeasterners suddenly have something to look forward to in the way of college hardball.

"The only thing I know is we're trending on Twitter now," Stony Brook's Travis Jankowski said after the Seawolves' 7-2 victory over LSU on Sunday night.

He's right. Stony Brook has become somewhat of a Twitter phenomenon. Yet amidst the social media craze, it's easy to lose sight of what really matters — that Stony Brook is navigating unchartered waters (at least recently) when it comes to Northeast baseball, and that the success is downright awesome.

Major League Baseball pretty much reigns supreme in the Northeast, yet college interest just hasn't been there. It might not be all that surprising, but it's interesting to say the least. You'd figure that an area so locked in on professional baseball would love to know who could be the next big thing, yet Stony Brook's seven 2012 MLB draft picks have gone unnoticed until now.

What makes Stony Brook's run even more special is the school's journey to the top. The program was actually of Division III status until 1995, at which point the Seawolves made the leap to Division II before eventually ending up in the Division I circuit. The team, coached by Matt Senk, has literally gone from complete obscurity to national recognition. And while throwing some attention Stony Brook's way all of a sudden might be considered "jumping on the bandwagon," the acclaim is long overdue, and the current run needs to be embraced by those living in the Northeast.

Call Stony Brook's improbable run a feel-good story. Call the Seawolves Cinderella. All that matters to them, though, is that you could be calling them champions at season's end.

Those in the Northeast probably won't throw a parade if that's the case, but the school at least deserves our attention.

Editor's note: Phil Pesce is a member of NESN's new media team and contributed this story to NESN.com.

BOSTON — Jim Boeheim and his Syracuse Orange have rolled into the Elite Eight without the help of star big man Fab Melo.

Syracuse beat Wisconsin 64-63 on Thursday to advance. With three more victories, the Orange will win their second-ever college basketball national title. But Melo won't have a hand in any NCAA tournament wins this spring due to his suspension for the entire tournament — for reported "classroom troubles." The punishment adds another blemish to Syracuse's basketball program, which has had at least 10 players test positive for banned substances since 2001, according to Yahoo! Sports.  

Melo gets a free education, and the guy won't do his homework. NCAA regulations state that student-athletes are students first, athletes second. Reality paints a different picture. Details regarding Melo's recent truancy are vague and could represent bigger problems in college sports.

The NCAA ended Melo's dream of leading his team to a possible national title, but was his punishment severe enough? What if Roger Goodell ran the NCAA? Perhaps a tournament and 2013 season ban would have sent the right message.

In the wake of the NFL commissioner's actions against the New Orleans Saints, one could only wonder just how effective Goodell's leadership would be in Melo's case, or in any situation involving an NCAA infraction.

Nobody knows what punishment Goodell would have handed Melo, but Goodell's no-nonsense policy across the spectrum is the absolutism the NCAA needs to keep the Fab Melos in check. After all, classroom issues are a small part of greater sins affecting the NCAA and its athletes in recent years.

While some still debate whether Goodell dealt too harsh a sentence to the Saints, no one can deny he has issued a clear edict that breaking the rules and compromising the integrity of the game will not be tolerated.

Will his message extend beyond the NFL?

Making money and maintaining high principles don't have to be mutually exclusive. Before taking future disciplinary action, the NCAA should ask itself: What would Roger Goodell do?

What punishment would Roger Goodell have handed out to Syracuse for Fab Melo’s Off-Court Issues?

The tint of that light changed drastically Thursday, though, with a report by The New York Times that Witt's Rhodes candidacy was "suspended" when the Rhodes Trust was reportedly informed of sexual assault allegations against Witt. The flattering, soft white shade Witt had been cast under abruptly changed to an unsightly flourescent spotlight that pointed out all of Witt's blackheads and wrinkles.

The headlines made it seem like that, anyway. With the words "Patrick Witt," "Rhodes scholar" and "sexual assault" appearing together in a news story, it did not take long for many people to make their judgments. Based on the fine print, though, a guilty verdict was more than a little hasty.

The third paragraph of the Times' story stood out in figurative bold type.

"Witt's accuser has not gone to the police, nor filed what Yale considers a formal complaint. The New York Times has not spoken with her and does not know her name."

Good call, Newspaper of Record. None of those things are necessarily important when you're about to destroy a person's reputation. If Witt is a violent sexual predator, who needs all that messy "official records" stuff?

Witt might be guilty, but this is an irresponsible way to sully the reputation of a person who is entitled to a presumption of innocence.

The Times' report cites interviews with a "half-dozen people with knowledge of all or part of the story; they all spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were discussing matters that the institutions treat as confidential." That's fair, to a degree. The lack of a formal police complaint does not mean a crime didn't occur, and there may have been extenuating circumstances to explain why Witt's accuser never made an official report to authorities — although the Times never lays out any such circumstances. By his own account, Witt met with university officials about the accusations, the Times' reports, but no formal action was taken.

Last year's Jerry Sandusky episode underscored the seriousness of alleged sexual abuse, but more than any other type of crime, crimes of a sexual nature must be treated with firmness, yet caution. Whereas a victim's life can be destroyed by an assailant's abuse, a wrongly accused person can have his life destroyed by accusations that will linger throughout his professional and personal life.

It takes great courage to formally accuse an attacker of a sexual crime. The accuser may remain anonymous to the public, but he or she must give a statement to police and recount the horrible episode under oath for the court. In addition to all of that, the alleged assailant surely knows the identity of the accuser, even if the public doesn't.

But this? An unnamed person made an informal complaint, chose not to take part in an investigation and still it was splashed in the Times, solely because Witt is a public figure? There has to be more done before a news outlet chooses to run a story like that.

The Yale Daily News, the college's student newspaper, knew of the accusation back in November, but chose not to pursue the story, according to a Times follow-up story on Friday. The Daily News' reasoning — wait for it — was that running a story would have been irresponsible.

In an interview with the Times, Daily News editor in chief Max de La Bruyère "noted that the complaint process is confidential, and said the accuser apparently wanted to remain anonymous. 'We decided that we should honor that process,' he said, and also 'honor this girl's decision.'"

What was obvious to the hardworking kids at the student newspaper was apparently beyond the grasp of the folks at 620 Eighth Ave.

Witt's agent, Mark Magazu, responded swiftly and bluntly to the Times' report, providing email evidence to the Hartford Courant that Witt's Rhodes candidacy was never "suspended."

Then again, Magazu was just doing his job. A discerning reader doesn't need to be Witt's paid representative to catch some of the questionable aspects of the Times story. Witt's accuser — who has since been reported as his on-again, off-again girlfriend — chose to pursue an informal resolution, the Times story states. If Yale is like most colleges, such a process is supposed to be completely confidential. She may have gone to the university seeking some counseling and a simple resolution like having Witt moved to a different dormitory, but now she's the subject of a national news story.

The story jumps the shark, however, when describing two prior arrests of Witt.

One was a $90 fine for a Feb. 28, 2010, altercation over Witt being denied entry to a nightclub. It is what it is. The other came during his time at the University of Nebraska, where Witt spent two years before transferring the Yale.

"According to the University of Nebraska police, Witt entered a residence hall at 1:50 a.m. on Dec. 9, intoxicated, signed in using a false name and went upstairs without waiting for the escort required for a visitor," the Times' story reads. "The police said Witt also pushed and threatened a student official who tried to stop him, then ran away from a police officer."

In other words, Witt was drunk and tried to get into a dorm without his student I.D. In whatever world the Times' reporter inhabits, this might qualify as high mayhem. Where I went to college, this was a typical Friday night occurrence. Many of those students went on to become lawyers and business professionals who, believe it or not, have never sexually assaulted anyone, to my knowledge.

As one might imagine, Witt's charge of obstructing government operations was dismissed.

The subtle digs at Witt's morals, disguised as the journalistic practice of "background," only get more ludicrous. The Times points out that Witt's parents moved him from high school to high school in an attempt to put their son in the best athletic situation possible, which will elicit tsk-tsks from Times readers unaware that that sort of thing is commonplace in high school sports.

Witt did not deserve the sainthood granted to him last fall when he decided to play in a football game, but neither does he — or anyone — deserve such an incomplete kick to his character. If he is guilty, the last three days of news coverage will be the least of his worries. But if he is innocent?

If he is innocent. Did the Times even bother to consider that?

Then March rolls around and instead of cutting 10 pounds, you've somehow put on seven, all while forgetting how to even get to the gym.

Resolutions are typically fruitless. However, there's one group that's going to need a huge list of them for 2012, and that's the National College Athletic Association.

The NCAA — most notably big-time college football — embarrassed itself at seemingly every corner in 2011. Far too often, the NCAA's on-field product was overshadowed by the greed, deceit and downright monstrosities that occurred off of the field.

Real quick, if we were to play word association and I said to you, "NCAA," what would your response be? After 2011, it very well might be "scandal."

Scandals rocked the NCAA at its foundation this year.

There were the questions about Cam Newton, and more importantly, Cecil Newton. Then we found out that in Columbus, you could get some tattoos for free so long as you played football for THE Ohio State University. From there, we went south — literally and figuratively — to hear about the hundreds, nay thousands, of illegal benefits that University of Miami football players were showered with over the last decade. 

And of course, nothing was worse than the nauseating details stemming from the allegations placed upon former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. That ongoing scandal has torn down the legacy of a coaching legend in Joe Paterno, and it could very well end up being the beginning of the end for one of the country's most recognizable football programs.

Oh yeah, there's also the BCS. That mess may be worse than ever, as we'll get a pair of two-loss teams meeting in the Sugar Bowl a night before the Orange Bowl will host two three-loss teams. If that's not the best college football has to offer, then I don't know what is. At least no one will be arrested or lose their eligibility because of it — or so we'd like to hope.

It's unfortunate, too, because at its best, the NCAA should represent the very best amateur athletics in the world really, the IOC be damned. However, Division I college football is so far from that desired standard that it shouldn't even be considered part of the NCAA. 

Of course, big-time college football is about as synonymous with amateurism as the desert is to hockey. College football is a business, and it is a booming business. Money and power dictate conference realignment and the ensuing TV deals. Money and power dictate recruiting. Money and power dictate just about everything in college football. And that is most likely the genesis of all of these problems.

There is so much to be gained from being powerful in college football, and because of it, university presidents, athletic directors, coaches and players will all do whatever they can to make sure they make it to the top of the mountain. We saw and continue to see the depths that power can reach in the midst of the unspeakable horrors being alleged in the Penn State scandal.

Once you reach the top, you can do as you please. Until, of course, you get caught. And as Penn State has also taught us, things get really, really ugly when that train derails.

As is the case more often than not, it's all about fixing the system. College football has a long way to go, but after a year like 2011, any sort of improvement will surely be embraced. The system, and those who benefit the most from it, must start to realize the problems, though. Until that, we can expect more of the same. And if 2011 taught us anything, it starts to get really, really ugly when that train flies off the track.

Are we harping on the negatives here? Sure. But has college football done anything as of late to help shine a positive light on the product? Of course not.

But 2012 is a new year for everyone, including big-time college football. So go right ahead, NCAA. Make those resolutions. Just please, be an inspiration to all of us and see those resolutions through.

Aim to be better, and hopefully you will be. After all, things can't get much worse.

The shot was as big as any, coming on national television and keeping Indiana undefeated while giving the Wildcats their first loss of the season. Immediately after the buzzer sounded and the ball went through the twine, the students poured on the court to embrace the win and the team.

Every student who chooses a school for a big-time sports atmosphere wants a chance to rush the field of play after an enormous upset. It is one of the purest moments in sports, letting everything go and leaving it all out there after an exhilarating victory.

But due to the frequency in which college students and fans have rushed onto the field of play, what once was a rarity has lost its flair. It has become commonplace after almost any home team gets a big win.

Indiana is one of the most successful schools in college basketball history. The Hoosiers have won five national championships and reached the Final Four eight times, which is seventh-most among all schools. With countless All-America selections and one of the best coaches the game has ever seen in Bob Knight, Indiana has been there before.

Kentucky is one of its longtime rivals, and the Hoosiers were undoubtedly underdogs coming into the game, but this was no David vs. Goliath matchup. It was expected to be a good game. While the win was big, it wasn't rush-the-court worthy.

Another Big Ten Conference member, Michigan, is guilty of the same offense, rushing the field after defeating Ohio State in its regular-season finale in Ann Arbor, Mich. Yes, it is perhaps the biggest rivalry in college football and the Wolverines hadn't beaten the Buckeyes since 2003, but they were clearly the favorites coming into the game. In fact, had Michigan lost, it would have been a disaster, as it would have cost itself a BCS bowl bid.

This is the same sport in which players are barely allowed to celebrate after scoring a touchdown. These collegiate athletes are expected to act professionally and routinely jog off the field following a score, yet when the the game ends, thousands of fans come streaming onto the field after a routine win.

It is understandable that students at big-time sports schools want to celebrate victories. If you go to a school in the SEC or Big Ten, though, and you have a long, storied history, you're a big dog. Your school brings in the most sought-after, top-notch recruits from around the country, you have the facilities that rival a professional sports franchise, and you probably have a coach who has achieved a lot of success in his career. You're expected to win. That's just the way it is.

There is definitely a place for these types of celebrations, but they are better saved for small, mid-major schools. If a school from the Horizon or Sun Belt conference picked off a No. 1 team, for instance, not only would the celebration be warranted, but necessary to effectively capture the moment.

As with anything else, too much can be a bad thing. But if done just right, storming the field of play can create memorable experiences that last a lifetime.

Photo via Flickr/twittek

Syracuse Chancellor Nancy Cantor made that perfectly clear about Jim Boeheim on Tuesday, two days after assistant head coach Bernie Fine was fired by the university amid allegations of sexual abuse.

It’s a bold proclamation when you consider the snowball effect we all witnessed at Penn State, which ultimately led to the firing of head football coach Joe Paterno. But from what we know regarding the Fine situation at this very moment, calling for Boeheim’s firing is a bit of an overreaction.

Will we eventually learn new information about the Fine scandal? Very likely. Will what we learn incriminate or otherwise reveal that Boeheim knew more than we’re currently led to believe? It could happen.

But all we know at this point are the allegations against Fine, which have come from three different accusers. To then instantly assume that Boeheim had knowledge of Fine’s alleged injustices would mean we’ve fallen victim to the moment.

We all saw what went on at Penn State. And while that situation will hopefully encourage victims of sexual abuse to speak up, it also has the ability to cloud our vision when it comes to other, new allegations surrounding new individuals.

The Jerry Sandusky scandal is disgusting. The Bernie Fine scandal is disgusting. Anyone with a shed of common sense and morality can identify that.

But each scandal is as different as the two sports Sandusky and Fine each coached. Each scandal that arises from now through the end of time will also be different, and therefore, deserves to be treated as such.

Bobby Davis, one of the men who has accused Fine of molesting him while he was a ball boy at Syracuse, may have been inspired to once again speak up after seeing everything that’s gone on at Penn State. But that’s where the relationship between the two scandals ends — or at least it should.

We can sit here and speculate that Boeheim knew more than he did, but that’s all it would be at this point — speculation.

Should Boeheim have kept a more watchful eye on Fine’s actions? It is his basketball program, so yes, he probably should have. But such is the case with anything: Hindsight’s 20/20. And while that notion does nothing to reverse anything unjust that occurred within the Syracuse basketball program, it’s the unfortunate truth.

We can sit here now and look back at how close Davis and Fine reportedly were back in the 1980s and wonder how it didn’t raise a red flag to those who were around the two on a consistent basis. But our view is already going to be skewed because of what’s now come out.

We also now know that the Syracuse police department knew of the allegations against Fine in 2002, although an investigation was never started, apparently because the statute of limitations had run out by the time the accuser came forward. And the fact that then Police Chief Dennis DuVal played basketball at Syracuse from 1972-1974 makes things a bit more strange.

But as far as Boeheim’s involvement, or lack thereof, we simply don’t know enough at this point to take away the job he’s held since 1976 at a school he’s been associated with since his playing days in 1962.

If we do find out that Boeheim turned a blind eye, similar to what’s believed to have gone on by coaches at Penn State when it comes to Sandusky’s alleged sexual abuse, then of course Boeheim should be fired. He should be fired, and the judicial system should continue to run its course.

At this point, though, it’s just too early. This is Syracuse. This isn’t Penn State. Let’s see how things play out. That seems to be what Chancellor Cantor is doing when it comes to Boeheim’s future. It’s what she should do, and really it’s the only thing she can do.

Hopefully, we’ll soon be proven that Boeheim is as shocked by the allegations against Fine as he claims to be. Not for his sake or the school’s sake, but for humanity’s sake.

The NCAA is a tricky organization. With so many rules, programs that should be profitable end up in debt.

NESN’s Jack Edwards has a solution: Pay the athletes.

It’s more complicated than that, of course, but you’ll have to hear it directly from Jack to understand the larger message. Check it out in the video above.

A horrifying story of a man named Jerry Sandusky has turned into a back-and-forth discussion over whether an 84-year-old named Joe Paterno should be fired from his figurehead job.

As if that's the important issue.

As if that will suddenly make things better.

As if that will make the graphic details shared in the 23-page grand jury report any easier to forget.

It won't, and any time wasted in an argument over whether Paterno should be fired immediately is a mere distraction to the fact that what happened was as awful as anything else in this world. We can use the word "allegedly" if you'd like, and you can argue that we must all wait for due process, but if you read those 23 bone-chilling pages, you wouldn't. You'd have seen eight men tell the same story, explain the same predatory methods, offer the same gruesome details. The hand on the left knee in the car, the creeping closer in the shower, the downstairs bedroom. You'd see these events described in detail, and you'd never, ever use the word "allegedly" and mean it.

But, allegedly, Sandusky abused all these children, and definitely, Paterno knew about it. He did not do what any decent man in the same position would have done, and unless you're desperately in love with the first 35 years of Paterno's tenure and are willing to ignore his last 10, you'd believe he should lose his job.

There shouldn't be any debate, yet that's all there is. That's the biggest problem.

Whether or not an old man retains his job as the coach of a football team won't help Victim 1 live an easier life. Nor will it help Victim 2, Victim 3, Victims 4-7 or any of the now-nearly 20 victims who have courageously stepped forward to try to move on from a trauma we can't even begin to imagine.

Paterno retiring or being forced to step down as head coach of Penn State football won't provide any comfort to the victims. Their lives are forever damaged. Joe's suggestion Tuesday night that we should pray for them was awfully nice, but they need a whole lot more than that.

What they don't need is a group of 1,000 or so fans and supporters showing up outside Paterno's house to lead chants of "Let Joe stay!" and "We love you, Joe!" They don't need to see Paterno soaking it all in and giving it right back with a "We are!" that's followed with an excited "Penn State!" from the adoring crowd.

Joe wants us to pray for the victims, but he can't do it himself. He's too busy leading chants on his front lawn. The last thing any of the victims needed was a slap in the face, but JoePa was happy to hand one out on Tuesday night.

Some would say he dished out another one on Wednesday morning when he announced that he will finish the season as coach before retiring at the end of the year. Some would say he forfeited that right eight years ago when he sat back and allowed Sandusky to live freely after learning of his despicable alleged actions.

To those people, I say this: Who cares?

I also say this: What good would it do?

The answer: None.

Paterno could "coach" on Saturday or he could be at home watching on TV. It won't make one bit of difference in this world.

So get upset, if you'd like, at the fact that Paterno will be allowed to finish the season at Penn State. Debate with friends, enemies and strangers about whether he should have been fired and whether he should still be fired. Hell, get in a fistfight if it'll make you feel better.

But all that rage is just filler. The "debates" are meaningless. The vitriol — toward each other, toward Paterno, toward PSU — accomplishes nothing.

There's no proper emotion to feel about a situation like this other than disgust, horror and sadness. There's no debate that can ever make that go away.

Paterno must be fired immediately for not appropriately reporting his knowledge of the despicable, horrific, mortifying, inhumane sexual crimes Jerry Sandusky is accused of committing against young boys — some of which happened at Penn State’s athletic facilities, according to a Pennsylvania attorney general report. The problem, though, is some of the people in charge of making such a decision to fire Paterno have been equally culpable of failing to properly investigate and report Sandusky’s alleged actions.

For that, the parties who turned away from the allegations are just as deplorable of human beings. Their ability to hold positions of power at an educational institution is disgustingly pathetic and disturbing. Everyone involved with Penn State has to feel ashamed that the school’s greatest icon can hear claims of rape on campus and fail to notify the police.

Part of the irony is Paterno almost certainly swept it under the rug in 2002 to preserve his reputation as one of the greatest coaches in sports history. He protected Sandusky — Peterno’s assistant for more than three decades and a heralded defensive coordinator who was considered to be Paterno’s successor before retiring in 1999 — to keep his program’s sterling record intact.

Now, with the truth laid out in court records, Paterno’s abhorrent irresponsibility should be his undoing. It shouldn’t just be a stain on his Hall of Fame résumé. It should be the single most dominant aspect of a shattered reputation.

Whether Sandusky is found guilty is not the issue here. Paterno was told of at least one alleged incident when Sandusky was raping a boy in the showers of a Penn State football locker room, the report states. Paterno passed the information along to athletic director Tim Curley a day later, according to the report, attended a meeting about the incident and then never let it publicly surface.

This should never have been about football or a chain of command at a university. From the moment Paterno knew of these allegations, he should have made sure they were handled appropriately. He is responsible for that much — if not for being the figurehead of the university, then for acting like an actual human being.

Sandusky may have destroyed countless lives with sick, twisted selfishness. (If you’ve got the stomach for it, you can read the grand jury testimony here or the attorney general’s press release here.) The mental anguish of the victims will haunt them for an eternity, and the helpless feeling of their families will extend to no end.

And this is what Penn State stands for? Is that worth the sanctity of two national championships or the race to boast the winningest coach in college football history?

If so, Sandusky’s alleged path of destruction deterred the judgment of everyone around him at Penn State. By not acting, Paterno, Curley and the university’s senior vice president, Gary Schultz, used their moral compass to deem appalling behavior of which Sandusky is accused as actually acceptable enough to protect some victories on the football field.

The totality of this merits one of the most disgusting scandals in sports history.

For this, Paterno’s legacy as a brilliant football mind means nothing — absolutely nothing. His lack of judgment, as a human being in charge of representing so much for Penn State and the college football world, is pathetic.

Paterno no longer deserves to go out on his own accord. He lost that freedom nearly a decade ago, even if it’s only being brought to light now.

Sandusky has been painted as a dirtbag whose revolting actions were concealed by Paterno. Penn State must fire the legendary coach immediately if it wants to save the smallest iota of decency.

The Fighting Irish, a partial member of the decaying Big East Conference, should follow the lead of its league brethren Syracuse and Pittsburgh and join the Atlantic Coast Conference, Dan Wetzel writes.

"If I'm Notre Dame today, I'm on the phone to the Atlantic Coast Conference headquarters in Greensboro, N.C., because tomorrow may be too late," he writes.

The ACC made the first step in a power play this weekend by adding Syracuse and Pitt, and Connecticut and Rutgers are rumored to be the next members of what would become a 16-team conference. The ACC is making a pitch to build the conference in men's basketball, media market demographics and academics at the Football Bowl Subdivision level.

The addition of Notre Dame, a national powerhouse in fundraising and fan interest (if not football), would give the ACC another selling point in becoming a national, not just a regional, player.

The arguments against Notre Dame giving up its football independence still exist, Wetzel acknowledges. The Irish would have to figure out how to restructure their TV deal with NBC and they would not longer be able to schedule seven or eight home games per season. It's doubtful they would still be able to play traditional rivals like Southern Cal, Michigan and the service academies every year.

"There is little question that the Big Ten can provide more money right now, but money isn't the major concern for Notre Dame," Wetzel writes. "The school has money. With all those alums and a $6.1 billion endowment, it has as much money as it possibly needs. It's not a lack of revenue that has held the program back."

If the ACC and Notre Dame take Wetzel's advice, that could spell bad news for Connecticut. UConn appears to desperately want to abandon the Big East, but given the choice between Notre Dame and Rutgers, which gets at least token notice from the New York media, and UConn — which doesn't get much attention from New York or Boston until its basketball teams make the NCAA Tournament — it's fairly obvious which one the ACC would take. (It's not the Huskies.)

Of course, that assumes the ACC would be done expanding at 16 teams. Why not 18, adding UConn, Rutgers, Notre Dame and West Virginia? Or 24, bringing in Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Boise State, Nevada and TCU as well? We've already seen geography has no bearing in constructing the strongest conference possible.

Go for it, Notre Dame. Be the latest domino to fall in this descent into madness. Let's go crazy.

And, of course, UConn-Syracuse.

If you were unaware the Huskies and Orange had a gridiron rivalry worth preserving, UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni wants to set you straight. Pasqualoni says maintaining the school's rivalry with Syracuse should be a "big factor" in UConn's decision whether to leave the Big East Conference and join the Atlantic Coast Conference, The Associated Press reports.

Syracuse, along with Pittsburgh, announced over the weekend that it will bolt the Big East for the ACC.

The UConn-Syracuse rivalry is more heated on the basketball court, where both programs are national powers. But that rivalry is more a result of their mutual success and their existence as conference foes than any bitter, shared history. Perhaps the greatest hardwood battle between the two was a six-overtime game in the 2009 Big East Tournament, which makes this rivalry's fabled tradition a little more than two years old.

Plus, it doesn't even have a ubiquitous nickname, like the "Backyard Brawl." Maybe they could go with "Fidos vs. Fruit" or the "Pasqualoni Bowl" in honor of the man who has coached both programs?

Pasqualoni clearly was not talking about basketball, though. He referenced the addition of Texas Christian to the Big East, and TCU is a football school first, second and third.

UConn wants in to the ACC for the same reason everyone else does: As the first "super conference," the ACC could haul in boatloads of cash. The Huskies' interest in the ACC has more to do with green than Orange.

Syracuse, a founding member of the Big East in 1979, and Pittsburgh, a member since 1982, received invitations to join the ACC, the ACC announced Sunday. The move was an expected formality after reports that the schools had submitted letters of application to the ACC.

"The ACC is a strong united conference that is only going to get better with the addition of the University of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University," said Duke University President Richard Broadhead, chair of the ACC board of presidents, which unanimously voted to accept the new members. "Both schools are committed to competing at the highest level of academics and athletics. We welcome them as full partners in the ACC."

This being football season, the latest move in widespread conference realignment might not seem to move the needle much. Both are maddeningly inconsistent on the gridiron. But in a few months (or whenever the schools actually change conferences), the impact of this move will hit home with basketball fans.

The ACC now becomes the premier college basketball conference in the nation with Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse, Pitt and Florida State. All finished ranked in the Top 25 at the end of the 2010-11 season.

The Big East has been the top men's basketball conference for years. The loss of the Orange and the Panthers still leaves the league with four teams from last year's Top 25, but their departure guts the Big East of two elite programs; aside from national champion UConn, only Notre Dame was ranked higher than 15th among the remaining Big East programs.

The most important effects of the move may be the ones fans don't notice, however.

The ACC adds two strong TV markets in New York (yes, 'Cuse gets credit as being part of the Big Apple media market) and Pittsburgh, while the schools rid themselves of a problematic conference structure given the existence of non-football schools such as Providence and DePaul in the Big East. With Villanova — a non-football member — hedging on a decision to move its championship-caliber FCS football program up to the FBS level, full members like Syracuse and Pitt — with their sizeable football income — had to start wondering about their futures in the conference. No matter the Orange's and Panthers' loyalties, financial considerations made this move a no-brainer.

Also, although this may not have been a major factor in Syracuse or Pitt's decisions, the unfortunate reality is that the Big East's academic reputation has suffered since the massive realignment of 2004-05. Schools with elite academic reputations such as Boston College (No. 31 in the 2012 U.S. News and World Report rankings), Miami (38th) and Virginia Tech (71st overall, with the 24th-ranked graduate engineering program) left and were replaced by average academic universities such as Cincinnati (143rd), Louisville (164th) and South Florida (181st). It's traditionally a point of pride, even among non-athletes, to say they attended a "Big Ten" university, for instance, and the Pac-12 and ACC have bolstered their academic reputations is recent years by adding new, highly-ranked academic members.

The folks at Rutgers, West Virginia and UConn may not like to admit it, but the Big East no longer carries the same reputation, on or off the field.

On the surface, the decision seems questionable.

Amaker could have leapt from the obscurity of Ivy League play and into the limelight of the Atlantic Coast Conference. He immediately would have had the opportunity to test his luck against powerhouses such as Duke and North Carolina.

But the immediate potential for glory and the inevitable exposure that accompanies taking on a head coaching position within a power conference wasn't enough for the humble coach.

Consider it a case of wisely resisting temptation.

Harvard won its first Ivy League title this past season and enjoyed its winngest season in school history without a single senior on its roster — and only three juniors. The Crimson have enjoyed two postseason appearances under the tutelage of Amaker after making only one postseason appearance prior to his arrival in 2007.

In other words, Harvard's basketball program is on the rise and it is realistic to expect that success will continue throughout the next couple of years.

Miami, on the other hand, is only 43-69 in ACC play since joining the conference in 2004, and is poised to lose its most prolific rebounder, Reggie Johnson, to the NBA draft.

After three consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament under former head coach Leonard Hamilton from 1997-2000, the Hurricanes have played on the big stage only twice since.

The school is also without an athletic director, creating an even greater sense of unpredictability across campus.

Miami may be the more attractive name to a casual NCAA fan, and the prospect of coaching in the ACC — a conference with 12 national championships to its credit — is awe-inspiring. But Miami has become a second-rate program within that conference, and there is no reason to expect success to be forthcoming — unlike at Harvard.

Amaker's creation of success at a school not traditionally known for basketball excellence, and the loyalty he is showing towards his current position and players by staying at Harvard, is a strong indication of his work ethic.

With another successful year at Harvard, Amaker will undoubtedly be approached by more schools about open coaching positions.

Just ask Butler head coach Brad Stevens, who has gone from a relative unknown to one of college basketball's most coveted coaches in a matter of two seasons.

Amaker is poised for a similar route. Next season, his name will likely be tossed around at schools with reputations that surpass Miami's.

Had Amaker jumped at his first opportunity to join an elite conference, though, he could have been on the coaching hot seat before long.

After all, patience is a virtue.

What do you think about Tommy Amaker's decision to stay at Harvard? Share your thoughts below.

Kemba Walker

The hyper-competitive, high-scoring Connecticut junior guard made it official on Tuesday afternoon, announcing at a news conference in Storrs that he would forgo his senior season with the Huskies and enter the NBA Draft. And why not? He's already accomplished everything at the college level. He's scored 1,783 career points, he's led his team to a national championship, and he's even graduating from college in just three years.

Now's his time. It couldn't be clearer.

It helps that Walker sent his draft stock skyrocketing this past month, being named a first-team All-American and leading UConn on an unforgettable run through the postseason. Between the Big East tournament and the national one, he led the Huskies to 11 straight wins en route to two championships. He hit a shocking game-winning shot to beat Pitt in the conference tourney, he knocked down countless big ones in the Big Dance, and he led UConn with 16 points in its win over Butler last week to win it all.

But there's more.

It also helps that Kemba's entering the draft in a weak year. There's no LeBron James, Blake Griffin or John Wall in this class — there's a lot of pretty-good-but-not-great talents in the field who may or may not pan out in the NBA. There's no clear No. 1, and depending on the lottery winner and their needs, the top of the draft could shake out a lot of different ways.

It helps that of the top players out there, a few have already said no to this year's draft. Baylor's Perry Jones is staying put, so too is Ohio State's Jared Sullinger, or so he says at the moment. Arizona's Derrick Williams is still undeclared, and speculation abounds that he might give it another go with the Wildcats.
 
Even with the players who are coming out, there are doubts. Harrison Barnes from UNC was supposed to be the game's next big star, but his stock has fallen steadily over the last year. Jimmer Fredette has been a sensation at BYU, but who knows whether his game will actually translate to the pros? As for the rest of the class, let's just say the depth is seriously lacking. If your team has a selection outside the top five, the pickings will be quite slim.

On top of it all, there's the lingering spectre of a lockout this summer, which casts doubt over the whole draft and opens the door for Kemba to make his move up the ranks.

Kemba has plenty of weaknesses. He's not big or strong for an NBA player — he looks a lot more like Nate Robinson (a No. 21 pick) physically than Deron Williams (a No. 3). Beyond his scoring, there are lots of questions about his overall game — his shot selection, his control of the basketball, his defensive fundamentals. But in a couple of months, we may find out that none of that matters.

Kemba was always a lottery pick. He was a top-14 guy at the very least, from day one. But the events of the last month have made things very interesting. The potential is there for a very, very good draft night for the UConn star. The sky's the limit for him now.

What do you think of Kemba Walker's future? Share your thoughts below.

Notre Dame and Texas A&M barreled through all four top-ranked seeds to make it to the NCAA title game, marking the first championship game without Connecticut or Tennessee in the past five years, and just the fourth in the last 15.

The run for the Irish has been especially thrilling, flying under the radar throughout the tournament before knocking off Tennessee and UConn in back-to-back games — a feat that has never been accomplished in tournament history.

The Aggies' run was just as remarkable, as they eliminated Baylor and Stanford en route to the program's first-ever appearance in the title game.

The new look to women's hoops is a refreshing change after what seemed to be a repetitive cycle of two dominant forces from Connecticut and Tennessee, and Texas A&M and Notre Dame fans aren't the only ones seeing the positive side of the shakeup.

"It's something new and fresh, which is a good sign," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said of the title matchup.

Auriemma is right on the money with his comment. By completing the unthinkable run that saw the downfall of all four top seeds, Notre Dame and Texas A&M are not only proving that the talent in the sport is expanding, but it also shines a spotlight on a collection of new stars within the game.

Take Irish point guard Skylar Diggins, who has quickly taken to that spotlight as her team advanced to the championship. The South Bend native saw her popularity skyrocket after she led her team to the 72-63 victory over the Huskies, gaining nearly 20,000 new Twitter followers overnight, in addition to shout outs from rappers Lil Wayne and Chris Brown after Sunday's 28-point effort.

The competitive expansion in women's college basketball can only mean positive things for the future, as new teams drive new interest and will attract more fans to the sport in the long run.

"Having two teams like Notre Dame and Texas A&M — given the teams they've beaten to get there –makes it even more compelling," Auriemma added. "It's not like they just snuck in and don't deserve to be there."

Will Notre Dame and Texas A&M's success spark a new era in women's college hoops? Share your thoughts below.

In 1989, Fisher took over the University of Michigan basketball team right before the tournament began. Six games later, Fisher was a national champion. He had gone from an unknown assistant to a national champion practically overnight.

From there, Fisher brought in one of the greatest recruiting classes in the history of college sports on his way to reaching two more national championship games (albeit both losses) and another Elite Eight appearance.

Fisher, with some help from a little recruiting class called the Fab Five, helped transform the Wolverines into a national powerhouse.

Unfortunately for him, however, a scandal rocked the program. While Fisher was never implicated as doing anything wrong, he was held accountable. He was the caretaker, he was viewed as negligent, and ultimately, the scapegoat. He was fired in 1997.

Just as quick as he rose to stardom — stardom many thought he didn’t deserve after he was more or less handed a national championship  –  he was gone. Back into the large pool of basketball obscurity.

From the collegiate athletic prominence of Ann Arbor, Fisher was forced to settle at San Diego State, a school better known for Tony Gwynn, Marshall Faulk and beautiful weather, than for anything having to do with a basketball. But still, San Diego State was willing to give Fisher a chance in 1999. More than a decade later, Fisher has the Aztecs looking like geniuses.

While it didn’t happen overnight, Fisher helped oversee a SDSU transition from scheduling cupcake to legitimate national title contender.

If there was ever a situation to juxtapose his tenure in Michigan, San Diego State was it. Instead of inheriting a team that was ready to win a national title, he took over a team that had won four games the previous year. Instead of being able to recruit blue-chip prospects like Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard and Chris Webber, Fisher had to piece together the recruiting process.

Slowly, but surely, Fisher took the Aztecs from the rubble, and he made them not only better, but relevant, too. In the four seasons preceding this one, the Aztecs averaged over 23 wins a season, winning no fewer than 20 in a single campaign.

Then, 2010-11 struck. Even as Jimmer Fredette, Brandon Davies and BYU got all of the attention in the Mountain West, Fisher’s team won the majority of its games. The Aztecs won 29 regular-season games, and they won the Mountain West, spending much of the season in the top 10.

They also picked up the first and second NCAA tournament wins in school history. Now, Fisher has an opportunity to really prove how much he’s done in San Diego.

Up next for the Aztecs is arguably the country’s hottest team: Connecticut. Like Fredette, the Aztecs will have to worry about slowing another dynamic player: Kemba Walker. Fisher will have his hands full as well, game-planning for Jim Calhoun, a proven tournament coach.

And, speaking of proven tournament coaches, if SDSU can get through UConn, it may set up a must-see showdown between Fisher and Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Coach K’s Blue Devils denied Fisher an NCAA title in the first year of the Fab Five.

A San Diego State-Duke game would be a not-so-subtle reminder of Fisher’s past, and where he’s come from to get to where he is now. And where he is now is just one stretch of terrific basketball away from grabbing another national championship. That, too, is something he’s pretty familiar with.

Somehow, though, you gotta think that if the Aztecs can stay hot, this run from obscurity may mean a little more to Fisher than the last one.

Do you think Steve Fisher will lead San Diego State to a national championship this year? Share your thoughts below.

NESN’s college basketball coverage is presented by Bodog.net.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Ask any objective observer at John Lee Amphitheater, and they'd give you the same verdict: Harvard was better than Princeton on Saturday afternoon. That, of course, won't ever change what happened. Douglas Davis received an inbound pass with 2.8 seconds left, ducked, went up for a mid-range fadeaway jumper and watched the ball pass through the net as time expired for a 63-62 win for the Tigers.

So how did we get there?

Harvard outplayed Princeton for the entire first half. They looked fluid on offense, shooting over 50 percent, and played well on the other end, too, forcing turnovers and making Princeton look completely stagnant offensively. They led by as many as nine early in the second half and maintained a steady, albeit shrinking lead for the first 10 minutes of the half, holding a 50-44 advantage with 9:06 to go. Then the Tigers raised the tempo, Ian Hummer continually got to the rim, and those huge turnover and shooting percentage margins that had pointed Harvard's direction evened out.

With those facets of the game no longer a factor, those which had pointed in Princeton's direction the entire game — even while they had been losing — took over as determinants, as Princeton's 36-24 rebounding margin, 14-5, on the offensive glass and a 30 percent advantage at the free-throw, proved to be the difference.

The final 10 minutes were played at a frenetic pace, one that barely resembled the previous 30 minutes of action. With each team constantly taking it to the hole and drawing contact, free throws were pivotal, and it was at the line that Princeton inched back. Those opportunities came in large part because Harvard's Keith Wright, the game's most dominant player, picked up his fourth foul before crunch time began, and the Crimson's interior defense softened considerably.

Add it all up, throw in Davis' amazing buzzer-beater, and the Tigers managed to pull it out.

The thing is, Harvard would've been a better bet to reprise Cornell's Cinderella run of 2010 — though the Crimson could still possibly be granted an at-large chance.

What factors generally lead to Cinderella success? Teams that generate a ton of steals, limit turnovers, drain 3-pointers, rebound, and have a high positive point differential tend to be your best bet — think about a team like St. Mary's from last year, featuring a post presence in Omar Samhan, a bunch of distance shooters and pesky defense. In those metrics, the Tigers go just 1-for-5 — they can rebound. Their scoring differential? 5.7 to Harvard's 7.2. Their number of steals — 5.9 to Harvard's 6.0, neither of which would bode well. Turnovers? That's yet another stat where both are pretty average, 12.2 and 13.1 respectively for the Tigers and Crimson. Three-point shooting? Harvard shoots 37.9 percent, while Princeton goes 37.4 percent — both pretty good, but by comparison, Cornell shot 43.3 percent last season on the way to the Sweet 16.

That litany of stats, however, just doesn't tell the story. With the season on the line on Saturday, you could  sense of how each team would fare in all of those categories, and the verdict was clear. Harvard is a good 3-point shooting team that generates open looks with good movement, Princeton not-so-much. Harvard is pesky on the defensive end. Princeton can be very careless with the ball. Again, Princeton is a strong rebounding team, and not just because they're playing in the Ivy League. They have big bodies. The question is whether or not it will be enough.

In Joe Lunardi's most recent Bracketology, the Ivy League winner is getting a 13 seed, matching them up with either Purdue, Wisconsin, Kentucky or Syracuse — none of which have a truly "bad loss" all season, and all of whom are big, athletic and talented as can be.

Could Princeton move up and become a No. 12 seed and face the likes of Arizona, St. Johns, Vandy or Texas A&M? Maybe, and if they do, they'd be in great shape to pull off the 12 over 5 upset. With the exception of the Red Storm, all of those teams have bad losses and go through stretches where they can look very poor.

It may, however, be likelier that Princeton ends up as a 14 seed, in which case they'd be looking at UConn, Lousville, Florida, San Diego State or BYU. That may actually be a better bet than being a 13 seed would be. While the Mountain West may have impressed this year, BYU and SDSU don't quite pass the eye test as dominant teams.

It's hard to say that Harvard would be a great bet to beat any of those teams, but with the interior presence of Wright, the perimeter play of Oliver McNally and Brandyn Curry and fluid offense, they looked like the kind of team that could be trouble in the tournament on Saturday — they just may not have a chance.

All of that, much like was the case as far as the playoff itself was concerned, leaves out one pivotal factor — which trumps everything when it comes to March Madness. Princeton can nail buzzer-beaters. We'll see if they have another one in them next week.

But they do.

The 21-year-old is catching flak for telling Peter King that he sees himself "as an entertainer-slash-icon." He later told Yahoo Sports that he doesn't "want to sound arrogant" but that he "did something in one year people couldn't do in their whole collegiate careers."

The comments have drawn critics out of the woodwork, but the kid is simply telling the truth.

Sure, his history shows that he's not a squeaky-clean choirboy, but what he accomplished on the field last year was often jaw-dropping. He won the Heisman Trophy and a national championship, so yes, he did accomplish more in one season than most people can do in four years. It's fact.

Yet, ProFootballTalk has begun wondering "if Newton's attitude is more like Ryan Leaf's than Peyton Manning's." Bleacher Report is concerned that Newton is a "draft bust waiting to happen." Former Cowboy Daryl Johnston said Newton's "not thinking the right way," and A.J. Hawk "can't see any of [the league's current top quarterbacks] ever really saying something like that," according to USA Today.

NFL fans, players and pundits are all questioning whether Newton has his head on straight and whether he has the makeup to be a leader in the NFL.

Please.

Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't, but it has nothing to do with the simple statements he's made this week. It doesn't take a rocket scientist — or even a sports fan, for that matter — to understand how marketable an NFL quarterback is to companies. Newton, without even playing one down in the NFL, is already signed on to make millions from Under Armour, according to CNBC's Darrell Rovell. He'll get all the attention leading up to April's draft, even if there are a dozen other players who are more of a sure thing at the NFL level.

Who sold more jerseys this year: Sam Bradford or Maurkice Pouncey?

That's just how the NFL works, and Newton simply understands that. So when he says he wants to be an icon, it just shows he aspires to be the best — and it's not like he said he expects it to be delivered on a silver platter.

"Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, you look at how good they are every year," Newton told Yahoo. "The question is how do they do it? [There is] nothing you can point to but hard work — in the offseason, in the regular season."

That doesn't sound like a kid who doesn't know what to expect over the next few months and the next few years. He wants to be great, and he believes he can be great, and that's the attitude that NFL teams would be elated to have in any of their draft picks.

If his career doesn't turn out the way he wants it to, then the critics are free to pile on. But for now? Let him believe he's the real-life version of Steamin' Willie Beamen. There's enough reason to believe he can pull it off.

Is Cam Newton helping or hurting his draft stock with his confidence? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

On Wednesday, Spriggs brought a swirling tornado of controversy to Auburn with a moronic tweet for the ages.

“man who is good at writing papers????????????? I pay…,” Spriggs asked his roughly 500 followers.

Spriggs deleted his Twitter account quickly, potentially realizing the gravity of what he had just published on the Internet, but not until his statements were happily retweeted by two fellow players.

Antoine Carter jovially pointed out “u gotta be the dumbest person in the world lol.”

Linebacker Daren Bates added “youve gone too far mahn.”

So now the thin veil has been lifted a little bit more to expose the NCAA’s twisted game of pretending that their athletes are obtaining a meaningful education while simultaneously training and competing for their sports’ respective national championship.

The NCAA needs to start treating collegiate sports like the springboard to the professional leagues that it is. Now, more college football players than ever attend school for less than four years — and don’t graduate — before declaring for the draft and moving on to the NFL, where they will make millions. How much learning is actually going on during these “semesters,” when most of their time is spent in the gym or on the field?

All of this comes on the heels of ex-Florida coach Urban Meyer spilling the beans on corruption in college sports, and stories like Spriggs’ give Meyers’ words more weight.

Freshman year in college can be difficult and is meant as a time for learning, life lessons more so than scholastic ones. Auburn and the NCAA would be foolish not to teach one here and suspend Briggs for his actions, since they show a complete lack of respect for everything that the NCAA and college represent.  

In the meantime, Spriggs should probably not broadcast to the world that he is cheating his way through college. 

Do you think cheating is prevalent among NCAA student-athletes? Share your thoughts below.