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Article in 2010:

 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — If you were the NCAA, at which football program would you have the most investigators?

As I prepared to cover the annual Southeastern Conference Football Media Days, which begins today here in Birmingham, that was the question asked of me by one of bosses.

Even with Southern Cal still dealing with the massive fallout from the Reggie Bush mess and Florida currently embroiled in a potential agent scandal involving Maurkice Pouncey, Alabama still gets my vote as college football’s most consistently dirty program.

If I were king of the NCAA, I would not only saturate Alabama with investigators, I would set up a branch office in Tuscaloosa.

In Alabama, cheating is as much a part of the football lore as the houndstooth hat worn by Bear Bryant and that purty dress worn by Mike DuBose’s secretary.

Alabama has seen it all over the last 20 years. Shady loans. Athletes illicitly accepting cash payments from agents and boosters. Multiple probations. Postseason bans. Scholarship reductions. Lack of institutional control. You name it, the Crimson Tide has done it.

Welcome to Alabama, where the NCAA probations are nearly as prevalent as national championships. Actually, in the last decade, Alabama has recorded more NCAA probations (three) than it has national titles (one).

It should also be noted that the iconic Bear Bryant may not have ever been caught cheating himself, but he tutored some of college football’s biggest outlaws.. Charley Pell, Pat Dye, Danny Ford and Jackie Sherrill all were Bear disciples who went on to provide some of the most unique interpretations of the NCAA rulebook in the history of college football.

Roll Tide?

Alabama’s rallying cry should be, “We Lied!”

And maybe, too, Alabama should get rid of its elephant mascot and replace it with a pig.

What better animal to symbolize the dirtiest, stinkiest program in recent NCAA history.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_bianchi/2010/07/forget-southern-cal-alabama-is-ncaas-most-consistent-cheater.html

They sure do win N.C.s and get the recruits, but what evidence is there of Alabama cheating??? and how are they cheating??

And then Ralph Cindrich had to go and change everything.

The noted sports agent, who played football at Pittsburgh, is upset with the way that the NCAA handled the Penn State situation and wonders why the NCAA hasn't brought the hammer down on Alabama and head coach Nick Saban—whom he feels is cheating.

Speaking on NewsRadio 1020 KDKA in Pittsburgh, Cindrich had some harsh words for Saban:

"I have enough on Nick Saban right now," Cindrich said. "I have proof. Everybody has something on Nick Saban. And if he has a problem with anything I say, come on after me, big guy."

Cindrich went on to defend himself on Twitter for the better part of Thursday afternoon from angry Alabama fans, media members and other college football fans who were curious about his accusations.

The last time bama was in trouble

The NCAA will announce Thursday afternoon that Alabama football will suffer major penalties stemming from a textbook scandal.

According to several reports, Alabama football will have to vacate victories from the 2005-2007 seasons. There were 23 victories in those years under Mike Shula (2005, 2006) and Nick Saban (2007). A source told the Birmingham News that the number of vacated wins is at least 10.

This is the fourth time in 14 years Alabama football has been penalized by the NCAA.

Alabama also will be put on probation for three years. There are no reports of scholarship cuts or postseason bans. It is not clear if the school will appeal.

The program has been off probation for only 16 months. On Feb. 1, 2007 it completed a five-year probation. After announcing those penalties in 2002, infractions committee chairman Tom Yeager said the program "was staring down the barrel of a gun," because of its repeat violator status.

If the NCAA determines that the textbook violations occured within a five-year window of the last probation then Bama once again could be technically eligible for the death penalty. However, it is highly unlikely that penalty would be applied. The death penalty has been used only once, against SMU in 1987.

The NCAA defines a repeat violator this way: "An institution shall be considered a 'repeat' violator if the Committee on Infractions finds that a major violation has occurred within five years of the starting date of a major penalty."

Five players were suspended for four games in 2007 after "impermissible textbook charges" were discovered.

An Auburn fan writes...

I have to say yes.

Bama started cheating in the 1920's.

Then Bear took cheating to a level never even dreamed of and got away with it. Make no mistake, MASSIVE cheating made bama's program. Just about every good assistant under Bear went on to get a school put on probation. Why? Bryant was the biggest cheater in NCAA history and his disciples thought they could get away with it like Bear did and like he taught them.

And it didn't stop after Bear. Bama got put on probation in the early 90's for what happened in the late 80's after Bear died, but bama continued paying players.

Then Bama continued their legacy of trail settingg cheating above and beyond any school through the 90's, paying every player possible until they were turned in by fat phil for paying a nobody dlineman and his high school coaches well over $100k. No telling what the star players were getting.

Then half the 2008 class was maybe the highest compensated in NCAA history. A new car was nothing. Julio got one from someone in Oklahoma that just said, here you go, I don't need this extra $20,000 dollars today. It was kinda funny when the Clemson assistant even called out Bama signee's for having new rides. Hell, even Dre's mom got a new car. I bet Bama has shelled out close to a million for their current roster.

The NCAA became a joke when bama did not get the death penalty. Bama would be the best school in college football history to make an example of for cheating. SMU was a sacrificial lamb and experiment. If the NCAA was serious, bama would not even have a football program today.

Former Alabama football players say the school's No. 1-ranked football program has tried to gain a competitive edge by encouraging some underperforming players to quit the team for medical reasons, even in cases where the players are still healthy enough to play.

At least 12 times since coach Nick Saban took over the program in 2007, Alabama has offered players a "medical" scholarship, according to public statements made by the team. These scholarships, which are allowed under NCAA rules, are intended to make sure scholarship athletes who are too injured to play don't lose their financial aid. A player who receives one of these scholarships is finished playing with that team.

Three Alabama players who've taken these exemptions say they believe the team uses the practice as a way to clear spots for better players by cutting players it no longer wants. These players said they believe Mr. Saban and his staff pressure some players to take these scholarships even though their injuries aren't serious enough to warrant keeping them off the field.

"I'm still kind of bitter," said former Alabama linebacker Chuck Kirschman, who took a medical scholarship last year. Mr. Kirschman said Mr. Saban encouraged him to accept the scholarship because of a back problem that he believes he could have played through. "It's a business," Mr. Kirschman said. "College football is all about politics. And this is a loophole in the system."

What?? You dont care if they cheat?? And win Championships? if they lose who cares!! But they have won a couple recently...so if they are cheating it would kind of bother me...unsuccessful cheators dont bother anybody.

Do i care if players get paid? no

Do i care if the players do drugs? no

Would i care if a team was caught and a known cheator, and the NCAA did nothing? yea

What cheating are you referring to? Off the field? Getting paid or uneligible players getting "eligible"? Please clarify

Steroids and stealing playbooks are the only things I would care about.

Every school does stuff the NCAA says they shouldnt. Yoy have to to be competitive, some are just better than others at covering it and keeping their mouths shut.