Boren thinks Sooners have 50-50 chance of winning appeal

NORMAN — University of Oklahoma President David Boren said it was a "matter of principle” that led him to file an appeal of recent sanctions levied by the NCAA against the Sooners' football program.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Boren gave the school a "50-50” chance of winning that appeal, which Oklahoma filed earlier this month. He said he'd like to see Oklahoma become a model for rules compliance within the NCAA.

"I truly think that overall, the relationship between OU and the NCAA right now is very good,” Boren said. "...OU and the NCAA are not at war, at all. In fact, the goal, the hope of OU, is for us to become the poster child of the NCAA.”

Oklahoma is asking the NCAA to overturn a ruling made in July by the Division I Infractions Committee that would strip the Sooners of eight wins in the 2005 season because of rules violations involving former starting quarterback Rhett Bomar and offensive lineman J.D. Quinn, who were paid for work they did not perform at a Norman car dealership.

Oklahoma also is appealing the NCAA's ruling that Oklahoma was guilty of a "failure to monitor” the employment of the players. The appeal is expected to be made public this week.

Boren said the NCAA offered the university a fair hearing but acknowledged frustration with the infraction committee's ruling in one area.

"The part of the appeal I felt obligated to make was the part that erased the records, because I felt that our coaches were not to blame and I felt that all those other players that were out there and played by the rules, it's kind of like group punishment,” Boren said. "You don't punish a whole group for what one or two people do.”

Boren said that after university officials learned early last year of allegations about possible rule-breaking involving players working at the car dealership, an investigation immediately was launched.

Boren said Oklahoma's aggressiveness in its own investigation and in dismissing the players likely kept the NCAA sanctions from being harsher, and he favorably compared Oklahoma's handling of its case to that of other schools.

"I look at, frankly, what's happened to USC? There was hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake there. They haven't said, they haven't been able to find out what happened and get the evidence. Well, we vigorously pursued and got the evidence ourselves.”

The NCAA is investigating the possibility of improper benefits given to Reggie Bush while the running back played at Southern California but has been hampered because of the threat of lawsuits.

Stoops has said he "strongly supported” Boren's decision to appeal.

Boren said he holds no ill will toward Bomar, who now plays at Sam Houston State, or Quinn, now at Montana.