Use of BYU Online Courses Inviting USC Potshots

It doesn't take a whole lot of material to pull USC haters out of the woodworks and get them to start taking unwarranted potshots at the athletic program. Even an inaccurate HBO report regarding Lane Kiffin's supposed $4 million annual salary solicited jeers from the national media and everyday fans alike. Even today, the news that the NCAA will no longer accept any of Brigham Young University's online courses in an effort to crack down on cheating, caused a few members of the anti-USC groupies to come out and take a few swings at the program.

Yet while numerous NCAA athletes have been taking these BYU classes for years, some would like you to think that it was exclusively a practice undertaken by USC football players. Per College Football Talk.com:

BYU courses weren't just taken by Cougar athletes, but by college athletes all over the country trying to remain eligible. As ESPN's Bruce Feldman relays in his daily blog, football players at USC relied heavily on the use of online courses at BYU to keep many of their at-risk players and recruits eligible. Former and current Trojan coach Ed Orgeron and former assistant AD Fred Stroock were at the forefront of coaches and support staff that utilized BYU course work.

I'm sorry to break it to you but many players across the country take community college courses or classes at other transferable institutions as a way to improve their GPA and remain eligible. It's never been just a USC thing. It's done by everybody. The SEC loves it. USC loves it. Heck, even the Bruins do the same thing.

And to be perfectly honest who really cares? Is cheating wrong? Absolutely. But does taking transferable online courses necessarily equate to cheating? No. It places student-athletes in a situation where cheating may occur, but it does not necessarily mean that cheating is destined to occur. It can happen in a traditional class setting.

So why should USC players be singled out for being just some of the many NCAA athletes to enroll online at BYU? NCAA rules permitted them to enroll, and they did. As did players from Ole Miss, Tennessee, and UCLA. It was pretty commonplace. So get off your high, take a step back, and realize that USC is not front and center of every "scandal" out there.