yeah but this wasn't the case here, at least with the football team.
I think the basketball team should've gotten nailed. as it was, they were skating on REALLY thin ice last year with the NCAA until they said everything was fine. They did lose an entire tournament team in 2004-2005 because of it though.
It's actually very interesting that teams in the SEC, especially teams that have a rivalry with Tennessee, don't try to plant things on them, considering what Fulmer did to Alabama.
Tennessee was protected by the SEC commissioner's office and apparently by someone in the NCAA. Even with obvious violations by UT, none were ever investigated seriously.
With the new SEC commissioner there seems to be somewhat of a cooling off with all of the backbiting.
My take is that every NCAA team violates the rules. Most rival coaches don't mind as long as it isn't too extreme. Fulmer, however, and to a lesser extent Spurrier take the rivalries extremely personally and inject a lot of hate into what were once intense but respectful rivalries.
Unfortunately, the NCAA is totally corrupt and inconsistent with their investigations and penalties.