At Big 12 media days last July, commissioner Bob Bowlsby sent a ripple through college sports by declaring that “cheating pays.” He said the NCAA’s enforcement model was “broken” and that the risk of significant punishment didn’t outweigh the reward of winning.

“They’re in a battle with a BB gun in their hand,” Bowlsby said. “They’re fighting howitzers."

View photos Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby stirred the pot with his July comments declaring that 'cheating pays.' (AP) More

This set off a spasm of reaction and rebuttal, including NCAA president Mark Emmert and director of enforcement Jon Duncan defending the association’s ability to police itself.

As we head into March Madness, you can expect the usual round of assessments of the college sports landscape and its ethical land mines. There will be cheerleaders who declare all is well, and there will be those who sail in after not paying attention at all to declare the place a disaster area. The truth is somewhere in the middle – but what’s transpired since Bowlsby’s startling July declaration gives credence to what he said. A Top 10 List of recent developments:

• Oregon and Ohio State played for the college football national championship. The Ducks were still on probation, dating to a 2013 NCAA ruling. The Buckeyes came off probation 24 days before the championship game, dating to a 2011 NCAA ruling.

• Former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in January, with nearly two years remaining on the NCAA show-cause penalty he received as part of that 2011 Committee on Infractions ruling. In May 2014, Tressel was named president of Youngstown State University.

• An 18-month show-cause penalty against former Oregon coach Chip Kelly expired in December, and fans of several colleges clamored for schools to hire him. Kelly instead opted to keep his $6.5 million-a-year job as coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. His assistant chief of staff is Josh Gibson, who received a one-year show-cause penalty from the NCAA as part of the 2013 ruling against Oregon.

• A report commissioned by North Carolina revealed, in devastating detail, systemic academic fraud within the school and conservatively estimated that more than 1,500 athletes were part of the scam over a period of 18 years. The NCAA re-opened its own investigation, which previously had led to no allegations. Basketball coach Roy Williams is in the Hall of Fame. Former football coach Butch Davis, fired in 2011 as part of the fall-out from the scandal, is an ESPN analyst.

View photos Syracuse self-imposed a postseason ban on Jim Boeheim's basketball team. (USAT) More

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