NCAA = No Cheating Actually Accountable

OOOOOOHHHH NO YOU DIDN'T!

The University of Memphis basketball team is under investigation for getting someone else to take current Chicago Bull Derrick Rose's SAT for him and for paying over $2000 to an associate of a Memphis player. An associate? Do college kids now have associates?

So Memphis is under investigation for "major" recruiting violations.

OHHHHHHHHHH! EWWWWWWW!

The NCAA is coming after you suckas! You wanted the top point guard in the country and you cheated to get him. So get ready because the NCAA is going to throw it's considerable avoirdupois around and.....take away your Final Four banner.

Say what?

Yep. Memphis gets it's tournament run officially stricken from the record. Meanwhile Derrick Rose is making millions in the NBA and will still list Memphis as his college of one year.

Okay, but I'm sure the guy who was in charge while this was happening will get busted, right?

Not really. John Calipari is slicker than snot in these situations. Not because he's some mafia type who can get off of clear transgressions through a technicality, but because the NCAA doesn't do much to him.

Years ago Calipari led UMass to the Final Four. It was later found that star player Marcus Camby was given stuff and possibly even some things. UMass had it's 1996 Final Four appearance removed from the record.

Meanwhile, Calipari and Camby were making millions in the NBA. That's a tough punishment to swallow.

Now Memphis is under "fire", if you can call it that, and Calipari has moved on to Kentucky, where he will cheat again.

And why wouldn't he? Here are his choices:

Play by the NCAA rules and lose some major players, lose more games, and possibly be fired if his team doesn't win enough games.

OR

Cheat, grab top end players who only stay for a year and then jump to NBA riches while taking his teams to the Final Four and being on the short list for coach of the year and earning a few extra million dollars in the process.

Sure, I consider Calipari a scumbag mercenary who doesn't hold a candle to the Coach K's and Jim Boeheim's of the world and doesn't teach college students, but runs a minor league basketball team. And he'll be very sad when he reads this as he lights another cigar with a $100 bill.

The NCAA could slam Calipari if it wanted to, but it doesn't. Calipari is a sweet talker and can bring in some real stars to his programs. This translates to ratings which translates to money that the NCAA gets to pocket. We now have a great SEC basketball power that's back on the scene and Kentucky fans and opponents will have a big interest in the team.

It works out well for everyone. You just won't see the banners hanging to commemorate it.