NCAA: Oklahoma Must Forfeit Vacate 2005 Victories

by SMQ on Jul 11, 2007 3:40 PM EDT in News Comment 5 comments

Pretty self-explanatory fallout from the LexusGate scandal that cost OU Rhett Bomar and J.D. Quinn last summer, per USA Today:

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The Oklahoma football program must forfeit its wins from the 2005 season and will lose two scholarships for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years.

The penalties, announced Wednesday by the NCAA, stem from a case involving two players, including the Sooners' starting quarterback, who were kicked off the team for being paid for work they had not performed at a Norman car dealership.

I'm pretty certain most Oklahoma fans wanted to forget that one, anyway - 8-4, losses to Texas, Texas Tech and TCU, no championships to speak of. Officially, the books will strike Bob Stoops' record from 86-19 to ~~78-27~~ 78-19 since the eight wins are vacated, not forfeited, though they can't do anything about the lingering nightmares of Vince Young. At least the Association didn't extend Bomar's refund dictate by asking Stoops to pay back the mega salary generated by those dirty* wins.

For introspective outrage, click here, for shameless schadenfreudian jubilance, here.

- - -
* - Actually dirty? No, probably not, in that the coaches likely knew nothing or next to nothing, and Bomar wasn't very good in '05 - this is a show of strength and warning to would-be imitators more than an act of justice. Them's the breaks when you live by the judgments of 19-year-olds, though. First Texas Tech, then Oregon, now the entire freakin' season. The officials are killing the Sooners, man.

0 recs | Comment 5 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Actually, vacted wins, not forfeited

Someone on BoN put that up. Stoops record officially becomes 78-19, not 78-27.

On the same page, does that mean Oregon now went 11-1 retroactively?

Fight on!!! Beat the Cornhuskerks!!!

by USCLink on Jul 11, 2007 4:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The Holiday Bowl

Never happened. While Oregon doesn't get credit for a win they don't get a loss either.

by cc machine on Jul 11, 2007 6:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Video shows

Texas Tech scoring a touchdown. Tech wins.

by Red Blooded on Jul 11, 2007 6:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

An overabundance of certainty

I don't think so, Red Blooded, not that you seem open to a dissenting opinion on this. I still think Henderson's short there. I've seen this broken down frame by frame, from different angles, and I'm not convinced. Either way, the point is that the play is controversial - the official had to exercise his judgment when he really couldn't see, and the call could realistically have gone either way, and either call could have been upheld on replay. It was a random decision and OU just happened to be burned by it. Happens in every game, especially when it comes to spotting the ball; it just matters more in some situations than others.

by SMQ on Jul 11, 2007 8:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

My complaint is

with the comparison between what happened with Texas Tech and what happened with Oregon. The former was, as you said and as I am more than willing to acknowledge, a call that could "realistically have gone either way". I would substitute reasonably here, as the Oregon mistake proves that reality need not adhere to reason.

Had it been ruled a stop, I have no doubt that it could have been upheld on review. It was ruled a touchdown It was a very difficult call that could have gone either way, and happened to go my way.

Oregon was a mistake. The Pac-10 admitted it was a mistake. Apologies were issued. This was not a call that reasonable minds could disagree about, rather it was simply an error on the part of the refs. Texas Tech's touchdown wasn't an error, it was simply a disputable call.

by Red Blooded on Jul 12, 2007 5:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sunday Morning Quarterback: An SB Nation Community

Network Bar

Sunday Morning Quarterback -

Second guessing college kids under extreme duress since 2005.