Not surprising at this point. I know I've been in some of the discussions in some of the other threads addressing the reality that the P5 type "establishment" of college football and basketball are starting to double down. It did not take long for the pundits to turn from the problem of corruption to the rules and law enforcement are the problem.
Barkley seemed to have said it all this weekend, we all cheated back then and most cheat now. So the FBI should look elsewhere.
Personally, I do have a beef with all of this corruption. How many of the "have nots" or non P5 types try to play by the rules and try to compete and be relevant in college basketball. From the players, the coaches, the alumni, and the close dedicated fans investing and spending to try to see their program have some good runs every now and then, it's not right that all these people are denied a legitimate shot because a bunch of the "elites" cheat and/or are corrupt. Frankly, it makes me sick. This is not some victimless crime. The "elite successful" programs are rewarded with millions of dollars from TV contracts, advertising, increased ticket sales, increased and larger donations. The playing field becomes even more uneven.
Early in March, look at the college basketball players all around the country who are devastated on national tv when their March Madness dreams are ended by a loss in a conference tournament. You ever notice the intensity is not even the same with mid-major and low-major compared to high major conference tourney games? The high major teams know that a conference tourney loss does not hurt their NCAA championship tournament chances nowhere near as much as it devastates mid and low major programs chances of an at-large bid.
I think of guys like Giddy Potts this March. You know he worked all year just like any other competitive D1 college basketball athlete for a chance to compete to be the best on the national stage in March. Players like Giddy, the coaches, they work hard all year long pouring their guts out to try to succeed. Then at the end of the season players like Giddy who worked hard and did it right are denied the opportunity to further compete in the top tournament because they do not belong to a conference that keeps the whole corrupt system running year after year. Or worse yet, a team such as MT, St Mary's, or even WKU are denied an opportunity to make room for the teams who are cheating and paying big dollars to recruits to play at their program. The cheating teams are thusly rewarded for cheating and usually end up being paid a ton more of money to do it all over again next year.
