NCAA steering farther and farther away from harsh penalties

FILE - Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner Jim Phillips answers a question during an NCAA college football news conference at the ACC media days in Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday, July 20, 2022. Last month, the Division I Board of Directors adopted three proposals to modernize the infractions process and also committed to “identifying appropriate types of penalties and modifying current penalty ranges, including identifying potential alternative penalties to postseason bans.” That goal is already well under way. "The reality is the current system is broken," said Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner Jim Phillips, a member of the transformation committee. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond, File)

FILE - Signage at the headquarters of the NCAA is viewed in Indianapolis, March 12, 2020. The NCAA accused Memphis of four Level I and two Level II violations, including lack of institutional control, head coach responsibility and failure to monitor. In the past, those types of allegations could strike fear into athletic directors but probation and fines seem much more likely to be the outcome instead of a penalty like that handed to SMU in the 1980s. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)