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Report: College football powerhouse (no, not that one) hit with NCAA sanctions

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For the third time in two years, a college football powerhouse not named USC will be forced to vacate games for NCAA rules violations.

News outlets in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and elsewhere are reporting that Alabama will vacate at least 10 wins and receive three years probation as a result of an extra benefits case involving student athletes and textbooks.

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The cackling sound you hear is from arch-rival Auburn, the butt of a famous Steve Spurrier joke in which Spurrier said it was a shame about the Auburn library burning down because two of the books hadn’t been colored yet.

The NCAA’s ruling on Alabama, expected to be announced today, is the latest involving a national-title winning football power not attended by Reggie Bush.

The case involving Alabama will not involve the loss of scholarships, which means Nick Saban‘s fanatical pursuit of a championship will not be derailed. Alabama will be on double-secret probation, however, and any subsequent violations could lead to more severe penalties under the NCAA’s ‘repeat violater’ rule.

Alabama will likely appeal the games vacated portion of the sanctions -- there’s a lot of that going around lately.

In 2007, Oklahoma was ordered to vacate all eight wins from 2005 in the case that involved Sooner players and sweetheart jobs at a local car dealership. Oklahoma won its appeal to the NCAA and had all the victories reinstated.

Last March, Florida State football was stripped of 14 victories as part of a department-wide academic cheating scandal. The school is appealing a decision that could cost Bobby Bowden critical victories in his ongoing battle with Penn State Coach Joe Paterno for most major college wins.

Meanwhile, in terms of USC, the clock and the NCAA, it’s tick, tick, tick.

-- Chris Dufresne

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