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'TARNISHED TWENTY' RANKING PUTS THE SEMINOLES ON TOP - AGAIN
Mountain View, Calif. (October 25, 2000) - Amid the turbulence of this college football season, with its many upsets among the top teams, one thing has remained constant - the team to hold the No. 1 spot on the "Tarnished Twenty," the listing of errant college football teams released annually by FindLaw, the pioneer and leader in online legal information and services.
In the just-released Tarnished Twenty 2000, Florida State University holds the dubious distinction of retaining its first-place ranking from the end of last season.
The Tarnished Twenty ranks U.S. college football teams based on the number and severity of ongoing or recently concluded criminal, civil, NCAA and other administrative proceedings and investigations involving players, coaches, boosters or other persons or entities associated with a program. FindLaw Sports will post two more editions of the list during this football season to note any changes in ranking; the second edition will be released in early November.
"College football players are coddled with many benefits, including tuition, scholarships, athletic wear and tutoring programs," says FindLaw Sports Reporter Tony Rosmiller. "But it seems promoting a positive image both on and off the field somehow gets lost in the race to be the best."
Florida State, one of the nation's top-ranked teams for its prowess on the field, retained its No.1 ranking on the Tarnished Twenty for the off-the-field antics of several of its players. One team member was recently arrested for battery after allegedly knocking his girlfriend to the ground, while another reportedly was caught offering to pay an undercover police officer $10 for sex. A shoe-buying scandal ranked University of Wisconsin at No.2. Assault charges and misfired bullets left Auburn University to round out the Top 10.
Auburn is one of several teams to reappear on the Tarnished Twenty from last season, suggesting there may be greater consistency in team misconduct than in team mettle - at least when this listing is compared against other college football rankings (such as the Associated Press Top 25 College Football Poll), which have seen far greater fluctuations. The implications are open to debate on FindLaw's Tarnished Twenty message boards, where visitors to the FindLaw site (http://sports.findlaw.com) can speak their minds and defend their alma mater.
"As the conflict grows between college sports and the law, FindLaw will continue to track both the off-the-field problems of major college football programs and the NCAA's sometimes controversial response to those problems," Rosmiller says.
The Tarnished Twenty 2000:
- Florida State University
- University of Wisconsin
- University of Tennessee
- Penn State University
- University of Miami
- California State University, Northridge
- University of Georgia
- University of Kansas
- Colorado State University
- Auburn University
- Albany State University
- Texas A&M Kingsville
- University of Missouri
- University of South Florida
- Tennessee State University
- Arizona State University
- University of Arkansas
- Youngstown State University
- Murray State University
- University of Indiana