Before getting into the post, a quick pop quiz:
In a high school basketball game, Team A leads Team B by two points when Team A scores a late basketball that is mistakenly credit to Team B. After the game ends with the scoring seemingly tied, overtime begins. At the first stoppage, the scorer alerts the officials to the error. What should the officials do?
(Answer coming later in the post)
No NCAA penalty inspires more philosophical and practical debate than the vacating of victories. Critics call it an “Orwellian attempt to rewrite history,” that the NCAA believes it can alter the fabric of time and space. Other critics point out that the penalty is pointless, since like a distant relative, the wins will always be with the fans right here, in their hearts and in their memories.
But vacating victories has a sound foundation in the theory that underlies all of sports. It is not an attempt to rewrite history, but the acknowledgement of a true fact. And far from being pointless, the penalty is necessary to achieve any level of compliance with the NCAA rules.
Theory
Anyone who has taken a sports sociology course has debated what the definition of a “sport” is. When you get to requirements like whether judged activities (gymnastics, figure skating) are a sport, whether major muscle groups are required (poker, chess), and the effect of simple (golf) or complicated (cycling, auto racing) machines, it’s hard to find even two people who will agree on the full list.
But one thing most scholars will agree on is that sports are a subset of games. Games are distinguished from play by the existence of rules. The most important of those rules are the rules that determine who wins the game. A basketball or football team wins by having more points than the other team when time runs out. A baseball team wins by having more runs when the opposing team runs out of opportunities to bat. On the flip side, an individual or team loses a game when a competitor achieves the necessary requirements to win.
An men’s basketball team is not just playing the sport of basketball. They are actually playing the more specific sport of NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball. Aside from scoring more points than the other team, this sport has an additional requirement: to do so with a properly assembled roster of players meeting eligibility requirements. The NCAA Division I Manual is no less a part of the rules that disinguish college basketball from other forms of the sport than the 35-second shot clock.
When scores more points than the other team with an ineligible player, it has not actually won, since it has not achieve all of the necessary requirements for victory. So when a victory is vacated, it’s not rewriting history. It’s acknowledging the fact that the team is missing a piece of the puzzle.
I can already hear the outcries that this theory means every basketball game where a referee missed a travel is illegitimate. No so, because most sports build this human error into the rules by making the officials the sole arbiters of on-court or on-field play. Here’s an example from Law 5 of the FIFA Laws of the Game (pdf):
The decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with play, including whether or not a goal is scored and the result of the match, are final.
The referee may only change a decision on realising that it is incorrect or, at his discretion, on the advice of an assistant referee or the fourth official, provided that he has not restarted play or terminated the match.
When it comes to NCAA eligibility rules, there are no such restrictions. The Division I Manual allows for the result of a game to be changed after the fact. But the rules can always be changed. Sound theory isn’t enough, they need a practical purpose.
Practice
The biggest practical objection to vacating victories is that the penalty is pointless. Until Lacuna, Inc. is a real company, why bother? For starters, schools seem to care. In addition to the recent dispute between Kentucky and the Committee on Infractions, Florida State, Alabama and Memphis have all appealed vacation penalties. It matters to coaches and administrators to have accomplishments reflected in the actual record.
The alternative is to note the violation in the official record without actually removing the record. This is the dreaded asterisk. In isolation, there’s no difference. Compare this:
- 2011 - Univ. of A
- 2010 – B State Univ.*
- 2009 – C College
- 2008 – D Univ.
With this:
- 2011 - Univ. of A
- 2010 – (vacated)
- 2009 – C College
- 2008 – D Univ.
Here, it is clear in either example that something fishy happened in 2010, and that all is not well at B State. But if cheating is as rampant as it is claimed to be, the record books would look much different. Compare this:
- 2011 - Univ. of A*
- 2010 – B State Univ.*
- 2009 – C College*
- 2008 – D Univ.*
With this:
- 2011 - (vacated)
- 2010 – (vacated)
- 2009 – (vacated)
- 2008 – (vacated)
If championships won through cheating are this common, the asterisk ceases to be a scarlet letter. Instead, it becomes a badge of honor that these schools were willing to go above and beyond for their fans, and a smirking reminder that they got away with it. If you’re trying to teach a lesson to future generations or make the case for reform, the second list, with no or few champions over an extended period, is a much more powerful indicator of a troubled sport.
If I have one complaint about the current way victories are vacated, it is that losses should be vacated to. Back to theory, you lose a game when your opponent achieves victory. Since your opponent did not actually win the game, you did not actually lose it. You still didn’t win though, because you didn’t meet the requirements either. So when a game is vacated, both the victory and the loss should be erased from the records of the teams. Personal records should stay though, since all the eligible players met the requirements to score those points, make those assists, and grab those rebounds. Yes, stats from a game with no winner or loser. Theory is still messy that way.
The answer to the question above, is that the officials will correct the score, but overtime continues. That means despite acknowledging and correcting the mistake, the effects of that correction are ignored, and a game that was not tied at the end of regulation plays on. That goes beyond Orwellian to Kafkaesque.
The opinions expressed on this blog are the author’s and the author’s alone, and are not endorsed by the NCAA or any NCAA member institution or conference. This blog is not a substitute for a compliance office.
About John Infante
The opinions expressed on this blog are the author’s and the author’s alone, and are not endorsed by the NCAA or any NCAA member institution or conference. This blog is not a substitute for a compliance office. If you’re a coach, do not attempt to contact the author looking for a second opinion. If you’re a parent, don’t attempt to contact the author looking for a first opinion. Compliance professionals are by their nature helpful people generally dedicated to getting to the truth. Coaches should have a bit of faith in their own, and parents should talk to one directly.
