Conquest Chronicles, an USC Trojans community

If the NCAA were to find that violations occurred before the sanctions were handed down in June 2012, USC would not appear to be subject to "repeat violator" sanctions.

Speaking generally, "for a school to be considered a repeat violator, at least one major violation must have occurred within five years after the penalty for the previous case," Osburn said.

The NCAA would tell you it’s pointless to compare the cases, because no two are alike. Yet, in its infractions report released Tuesday, the NCAA did that very thing.

In discussing the rationale for penalizing Boise State for providing housing and transportation to incoming student-athletes before they enrolled so they could participate in summer workouts, the NCAA cited a 2007 case involving West Virginia and a 2006 case involving Kansas.

So, apparently, case precedent is applicable when it’s convenient for the NCAA – but means absolutely nothing when appealing a ruling. Great system, eh?