Oversigning is a clear-cut competitive advantage that drastically tips the playing field in favor of the, for lack of a better word, Cheater. (I realize that there are glaring loopholes in this rule, so cheating is not the legally correct word.)

The results of oversigning on competitive balance are clearly shown by analyzing the results of this year’s bowl games. Teams offering more scholarships than their opponents went 15-4 in this year’s bowls. Almost all of these bowl winners are oversigning cheaters.

The website oversigning.com compiles data on most major teams in the country, listing the number of scholarships granted per year since 2002. The table below lists the number of scholarships granted during the last five years for this year’s bowl opponents, instead of the score. The results show, without doubt, that oversigning tilts the field in favor of the team offering the most scholarships.

Winner Loser Diff Miss State 137 W Forest 94 43 Auburn 144 Virginia 108 36 OK State 133 Stanford 99 34 Tx A&M 116 NW 91 25 Florida 120 Ohio St 98 22 W Va 121 Clemson 103 18 Fl State 127 Notre D 110 17 Illinois 120 UCLA 106 14 OKLA 122 Iowa 109 13 S Carolina 130 Nebraska 118 12 Cincy 113 Vandy 102 11 Oregon 121 Wisconsin 112 9 Baylor 132 Wash 125 7 Texas 111 Cal 108 3 Mich St 116 Georgia 114 2 Missouri 124 North Car 126 -2 Arkansas 135 K State 139 -4 Michigan 112 Va Tech 122 -10 Rutgers 116 Iowa St 134 -18

This table includes only those games where both teams data are available on oversigning.com. If strict adherence to the NCAA 85/25 rule was adhered to, the maximum number of schollys would be 85 plus 25 over five years, or 110.

The SEC, which clearly leads the country in oversigning, boasts of producing the BCS Champion for the last six years. Looking at this data, it can be argued that any SEC team that loses a non-conference game or a bowl game should fire their coach! I have highlighted teams with more than 115 scholarships granted during the last five years, which is ‘cheating’ by one per year. Of the nineteen bowl winners on this list, only Texas and Michigan fall into the Non-Cheater category.

In my opinion, this situation should be changed, so that all teams are compelled to play by the same rules.