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NCAA’s Comical Response to McNair Docs and More USC Football News

By Alicia de Artola

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Can’t get enough USC football? We’ve got your morning dose of all the best content from around the web concerning the men of Troy.

1st & 10:

First Take… Oh NCAA, you’re too funny.

“The documents filed by Todd McNair yesterday, many of which were already released by the NCAA, support what the NCAA has argued to California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal,” reads the NCAA’s statement to the OC Register on Wednesday’s developments in the McNair defamation lawsuit. “The NCAA maintains that the Committee on Infractions engaged in a comprehensive deliberative process in the University of Southern California infractions case and did not act with malice in reaching its conclusions.”

Are you laughing yet? Because that’s comedy.

Nevermind that the NCAA could have, and probably should have, released a statement saying something much more dull, but also much more accurate, like: “The NCAA will let the full legal process play out before commenting on documents filed by Todd McNair yesterday. We maintain that…”

Instead, the NCAA has the audacity to claim that those documents support their arguments.

*Cue laugh track*

What arguments is the NCAA is talking about?

That their investigation was comprehensive?

Of course, why else would documents show that members of the COI openly questioned the work of NCAA enforcement staff relating to their “botched” investigation? And who cares if enforcement staff flat out admit they decided not to correct the record on the McNair-Lake phone call which was ultimately used as the NCAA’s smoking gun against McNair and USC?

That their deliberations were fair?

Yeah, because allowing three non-voting members of the COI, who were expressly forbidden from influencing deliberations, to absolutely influence deliberations against USC and McNair seems really fair.

That there was no malice involved in ruling against McNair?

Well, an expressed opinion from Shep Cooper, one of those three who was forbidden from sharing opinions, that “McNair shouldn’t be coaching at ANY level” of college football and that McNair was “a lying, morally bankrupt criminal” sounds perfectly benevolent, doesn’t it?

Does the NCAA really believe what they’re saying? More importantly, do they really expect us to buy what they’re selling?

And Ten Links…

  1. OC Register: The documents released by McNair’s lawyers got a thorough working over by Michael Lev and Ryan Kartje, in case you missed the fun.
  2. USCFootball.com: If you wanted to peruse the evidence of NCAA misconduct yourself, Dan Weber has the links to both McNair’s brief and the appendix of documents.
  3. USCFootball.com: Weber has some great arguments about USC’s scholarship numbers still being affected by the sanctions and how the NCAA could make things right by allowing the Trojans to exceed initial counters to award rides to deserving walk ons.
  4. USCFootball.com: Uchenna Nwosu is back with the Trojans after missing the spring because of an off-the-field incident. He told Ryan Abraham that Anthony Sarao and Antwaun Woods have been a big part of getting him back into the groove with the team.
  5. ESPN:  USC’s linebacking corps is in great shape, says Chantel Jennings in her Pac-12 position preview. Joining the Trojans among the elite for the unit are Arizona, ASU, and Utah.
  6. Atlanta Journal Constitution: Redshirt freshman cornerback Lamont Simmons landed on Georgia Tech as his transfer destination.
  7. LA Times: Lindsey Thiry continues to preview the incoming freshman with running back Aca’Cedric Ware, who will likely redshirt if he doesn’t beat out fellow freshman running backs Ronald Jones II and Dominic Davis for a spot in the rotation.
  8. OC Register: Who were the runners-up from Lev’s countdown of the most valuable Trojans for 2015? Zach Banner, Max Browne, Darreus Rogers, Anthony Sarao and Greg Townsend Jr. all get some recognition.
  9. Reign of Troy: Does USC have room for recent UCLA de-commit Jordan Parker? It’s getting awfully crowded in the Trojan’s 2016 class.
  10. Reign of Troy: Speaking of the 2016 class, four-star receiver N’Keal Harry listed USC among his top ten schools yesterday afternoon, which begs even more questions about space should Harry decide that the Trojans are his favorite.

Stat of the Day:

Only 19 universities competing in FBS have sold naming rights for their football stadiums. Both USC and ASU seek to be No. 20.

Tweets of the Day:

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