UNC football troubles are bad for everyone

Even the most rabid LSU Tiger football fan is unhappy with the problems North Carolina and its football team are having. Around the UNC campus you hear all around, " WE had a good chance to beat LSU," or even more aggressively, "We were going to beat LSU," followed by "but now we've lost half our football team." On the LSU campus you hear the plaint, "If we win everyone will say it was because UNC was missing some starters, and if we lose we will really look bad." They are referring to the rumor that several UNC starters will be suspended because of violations.

Actually, injuries, suspensions, transfers and bad officiating are challenges all teams face. LSU has three injured players who will miss the game, several transferred, and one projected starter has been suspended. No one, not even the UNC people in position to know, has all the details of the facts around the situation, certainly not who or how many might be suspended for the game.
North Carolina began an investigation when it learned that some players had associated with agents. As the result of the investigation, it was discovered that a tutor, no longer with the school, had possibly written papers for some players. This transcends sports; it goes to the heart of academics and reflects on the integrity of the school. The NCAA considers academic fraud the worst infraction a program can have.

While UNC can be counted on to do the right thing, what punishment, if any, by the NCAA may not be known until a day or so before the game.
Every university should take this as a wake-up call and monitor more closely its tutorial programs. Some schools want to win so badly they will seek out and hire a coach whose violations got another school on probation. They are an exception as most schools want to have a clean program, but the pressure to win is there for all univerities. All should be watchful that something similar does not happen to them.