Tennessee football could live with any punishment from the NCAA

Obviously, the NCAA’s notice of allegations against Tennessee football last Friday have raised lots of questions as to what type of punishment the Vols could be facing. The seriousness of the violations generally result in probation, a reduction of scholarships and forfeiting games.

However, UT’s response, which was commended by the NCAA, is unique in nature and could lessen the punishment. Add in the NCAA’s updated guidelines on punishments and the fact that name image and likeness is now a thing, and there are many reasons to believe they won’t even be that severe.

Even if they are, though, Tennessee football has nothing to worry about. Short of a death penalty, the new landscape of college football makes it so that no punishment could really stick to the Vols. Only a scholarship reduction would complicate things.

Let’s start with a postseason ban. Nobody really believes the Vols will be competing for the SEC or national championship over the next two years. As a result, a ban would just keep them out of a regular bowl games, and with the explosion of the College Football Playoff, those games are now meaningless anyway.

All that would be missed by a bowl for Tennessee football would be the extra practices and potentially the benefits of a New Years Six bowl, which the Vols could potentially make over the next two years with Josh Heupel even if they won’t compete for championships. The effects of that ban are minimal, though.

Scholarship reductions would obviously be a different story, as they would hamper the Vols’ ability to recruit. However, with the way NIL has taken hold of the sport, they could put up plenty of money to entice players who would be on scholarship to become walk-ons. As a result, this won’t be substantial either.

Finally, there’s the possibility of forfeiting games. So what? Almost every national powerhouse has had to forfeit games. One, it doesn’t really have an effect, as everybody remembers who actually won each game. Retroactive forfeits rarely make sense.

Furthermore, though, the Vols went 16-19 during Jeremy Pruitt’s three years. They never finished in the top 25. All they would really lose out of that in regards to how it affects their history is a bowl win. Is that really a big deal?

Simply put, there’s nothing the NCAA can do that would really hurt Rocky Top long-term under Josh Heupel short of the death penalty, and let’s be honest. That’s not coming. As a result, despite the damage Pruitt did, it wasn’t long-lasting.

The Penn State Nittany Lions bounced back from a serious probation relatively quickly, and that’s been a thing for programs ever since. Tennessee football could do the same thing, and if they aren’t competing for a title, none of this would lessen the success they have over the next two years, so nobody needs to worry.