The state of college football

TULSA - Can college football be saved?

Does it need a life support system? Do the fans think the game is in trouble? Should players be paid? Can we just leave it alone, and let the problems work out under the current systems?

Legitimate questions, all.

Administrators claim they want to clean up the mess. Retired football coaches claim the system is at an all-time low, while current coaches say college football will continue on with success.

But what do the fans think? Do those who buy the tickets and tailgate outside stadiums want a cleaner game, less cheating? Or do they just want the favorite team to keep on winning, do anything it takes to win those national championships?

Cheating of some sort has been going on since college athletics hit the gridiron, basketball court and rowing venue. The degree or amount of cheating has fluctuated throughout the years, but cheating is cheating. As soon as one rule is designed, a loophole is found.

I contend college football is strong enough at this point to survive any sort of scandal, whether it happens at USC, Ohio State, or Notre Dame.

I'm not so sure about basektball. The AAU programs and the allowable one and done rule for players has to go. But that's a debate for another day.

But the only way college football is going to get a clean bill of scandal-free health is if the fans revolt against the cheating teams. I do not see that happening in the near future, or the future future.

As Bob Stoops said at the OU Caravan a few weeks back. "There will still be a Heisman Trophy, still a national champion, still be people watching it on TV with great ratings. College football appears to be bullet proof.

That doesn't mean the game is in good shape. Far from it. It's just that so many of us are willing to close our eyes.

But are there any answers? The only way to get the mess cleaned up is to dissolve the entire sport and start over. Yea, that will happen.

It is the fan bases that need to determine whether or not the game needs to be cleaned up. Declare a boycott of games unless players go to class, stop accepting gifts and money. Do we really think that will happen? Again, no.

Here is another situation to think about. Say the game somehow does get cleaned up. How much will the game suffer from a competition standpoint? I do not see how teams could be gathering the same top notch talent college football now enjoys. Surely, the talent pool would be diminished.

To put it in a nutshell, I do not see a solution in sight. Just hope somehow, someway we get it as close to right as possible.

If someone has an answer, don't keep it a secret. We need you.

I will say this...the reason so much attention is being focused on college football cheating has to do with Ohio State.

Had it been an SEC team, or some lower division school, it would be business as usual. But the fact a school with what was perceived as a squeaky clean image, with a well-liked coach, has been caught breaking the rules, now we have constant discussion.

What's next? Joe Paterno being investigated? Say it ain't so Joe. 

Even the most pessimistic football fan would have to dismiss that possibility.