Gene Marsh, a former top regulator for college sports, chuckled when he saw how Kansas Coach Bill Self punched back at N.C.A.A. accusations that he was complicit in Adidas’s improper funneling of more than $100,000 to three basketball recruits. Self derided the N.C.A.A.’s 20-page report as a false narrative “based on innuendo, half-truths, misimpressions and mischaracterizations.”

Marsh’s advice: Don’t tell that to the judge.

“That is a visceral argument and plays to the Bubbas in the crowd,” Marsh said. “Schools that end up on the wrong side of the gun frequently say, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re being singled out.’”

Marsh heard that argument often in his nine years (including two as chairman) on the N.C.A.A. committee on infractions. That body will hear the case against Kansas, which will surely be joined by other universities as the N.C.A.A. enforcement staff continues to comb through remnants of the F.B.I.’s investigation into college basketball corruption.

The cases will be closely watched as a test of the N.C.A.A.’s potency at a time when its business model built around athletes as amateurs has been under assault in court and from lawmakers, and as the organization's ability to police its members has been called into question.