If you are a sports fan, it is going to be nearly impossible to avoid hearing discussion of the Yahoo Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/investigations/news;_ylt=AiAl_3QH2lQbgfD3s.cjAWo5nYcB?slug=cr-renegade_miami_booster_details_illicit_benefits_081611) investigation into illicit benefits received by University of Miami players during the 2002-10 period.

The charges are so extreme, and so well documented, that it is hard to imagine Miami not receiving the ‘Death Penalty’ from the NCAA. This story is already receiving a tremendous amount of coverage and will continue to do so. Coming off of the other recent stories (should be noted, not as severe issues) at USC, Ohio State, and UNC; you wonder where the next shoe will drop. Surely the story that is illustrated here by Yahoo, is not limited to the Hurricanes.

From the perspective of a Terps fan, my primary interest is wondering how this is going to impact the Maryland vs. Miami Monday Night Opener September 5th. As pointed out by Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/stewart_mandel/08/16/miami.hurricanes.allegations.reaction/index.html?sct=cf_t11_a1) there are a number of current Miami players named in the Yahoo report. Those mentioned are QB Jacory Harris, WR Travis Benjamin, S Ray Ray Armstrong, LB Sean Spence, and DT Marcus Forston. Harris is competing with Stephen Morris at QB, but each of the others are very significant players to the Hurricanes. Benjamin had 43 catches for 743 yards, and 3 TD’s last year. In the Rivals.com ACC Preview (http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1245268) Spence was named as a 1st team All-ACC LB, Armstrong 1st team All-ACC SS. Forston had 12 tackles for loss last year, and is seen as a possible 1st round pick in 2012. I’m not dancing on the Miami grave, when I say Mandel is correct in stating that normal protocol would be to declare these players ineligible until their statuses are resolved.

Like Maryland, the Hurricanes are under the leadership of a new Head Coach (Al Golden). Unlike the Terps, the Miami players are clearly going to be dealing with a very large distraction prior to the Opener. Maybe it galvanizes the Hurricanes, and sharpens the focus of the players that will be eligible and on the field. One knows that even if the aforementioned players are suspended, that the Miami will still have plenty of talent.

I said above that as a Terps fan my primary interest in this story is how this impacts the Opener. Obviously if you are a fan of College sports; you hope to never see the program you support in a similar situation. Getting past those sentiments, there is another way I could see this scandal impacting Maryland.

There has been a lot of talk recently about College Conference Realignment / Expansion. In July we discussed how such Realignment talk could impact Maryland with a couple of writers (https://baltimoresportsandlife.com/?p=2614). Since that point, the talk of Texas A&M leaving the Big 12 to join the SEC has gone into high gear. It is expected by most that an official announcement of the Aggies moving to the SEC will happen in the next couple of weeks. The SEC is not going to add just one team, so there has been plenty of speculation of what other program could leave their current conference to join A&M. If the SEC expands, there is expectation that the Big Ten will respond in like. If ACC teams jump to the SEC, the ACC would attempt to raid the Big East. A crippled Miami program in that prospective new ACC, is not going to help that situation look more attractive. I think this is one more reason to believe that if the Big Ten pursues Maryland, that the Terps will listen hard.

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

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