100,000 dollars. That’s how much the Louisville basketball program and Adidas gave recruit Brian Bowen, in return for his commitment.

Just when things couldn’t get worse, somehow the program put itself deeper into trouble.

Sure, the recruiting scandal involving escorts and prostitutes was bad. Horrible really. Many people wanted Rick Pitino fired at that point, and I don’t think anyone would’ve been against him losing his job.

More recently, the FBI released this information about “university-6.”

Rick Pitino and Athletic Director Tom Jurich stood no chance. Both were put on leave less than two days after the report was released.

What were they thinking? Because of the decisions they made, the federal government is now at Louisville’s throat.

Many people want Louisville to receive the “death penalty,” a consequence of their actions that would force the university to terminate the entire basketball program for multiple seasons.

Personally, I tend to agree. They have lied, broken laws, and now they are accused of money laundering. With these charges, it’s possible for multiple people involved in this scandal to get prison time.

However from a neutral point of view, this is something possibly bad for the entire college basketball landscape. Kentucky loses its rival for multiple years. Duke, North Carolina, and many other ACC schools lose a fierce competitor.

And what happens to the program in future years? That’s multiple seasons of falling behind, no recruiting, and no winning.

Not many players are going to look at Louisville and say, “I want to go play there.” If Louisville were to receive the death
penatly, it’d be possible for the program to never get back to its winning ways.

Just look at SMU. In 1982, the football team finished undefeated and won the Cotton Bowl. The Mustangs competed with the big powers in the Southwest – Texas, Texas A&M, and Arkansas.

Five years later, they received the death penalty.

After being stripped of the accomplishments of the team, the program was suspended until 1989. SMU managed only one winning season from 1989 to 2008.

I’m not saying that if Louisville receives this penalty that they’ll forever be stuck as a below average team, but it’s certainly
possible.

Kentucky fans, as much as they hate Louisville, should seriously be rooting for the Cardinals on this one. It would effectively ruin the rivalry, one considered to be one of the most heated in all of college basketball.