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The most severe sanction is the death penalty, which bans a school from participating in intercollegiate athletics in that sport for a period of two years. It can be imposed when a school is a repeat offender, that is, it commits a major infraction within five years of another major violation. This has been used just once, when the football program at Southern Methodist University was shut-down for the 1987 and 1988 seasons (see a description of the violations in that case). After compiling a 52-19-1 record during the seven years prior to the penalty, the SMU football program had a difficult time recovering. During the next 17 years, the team's record was 47-119-3, with only one winning season and just two victories over nationally ranked teams. The penalty also contributed to the demise of the Southwest Conference in 1996 and the move by SMU to the non-BCS (Bowl Championship Series) Athletic Conference.

Violations at Southern Methodist University

In August 1985, the NCAA determined that the coaching staff at Southern Methodist University had been aware of flagrant violations by boosters during the period 1981-84, including payments to potential recruits and student-athletes. Nine boosters were banned from any contact with athletes, and an assistant coach was prohibited from participating in the recruiting process. The university was prohibited from offering any athletic scholarships in football for 1986-87 and just 15 scholarships for 1987-88. It was banned from postseason competition in 1986 and 1987 and appearances on live television in 1986. SMU was also placed on probation for three years. This was the fourth instance of NCAA actions against SMU in 11 years, with documented violations in 11 of the previous 14 years.

The following November, a former player disclosed in a television interview that he had been paid $750 per month by the university's recruiting director. Two days later, a current student revealed that he had been living rent-free in an apartment owned by one of the banned boosters. The NCAA Committee on Infractions eventually determined that 13 football players had been paid a total of nearly $47,000 during the 1985-86 season and another $14,000 during the last four months of 1986. These violations occurred after the university had been placed on probation in 1985.

During the next 15 years, ten other college football programs have been judged to be similar repeat offenders, but none have been given the death penalty, and some have received only probation. John Lombardi, who was president of the University of Florida when it went before the NCAA Infractions Committee for major violations, was quoted as saying that "SMU taught the committee that the death penalty is too much like the nuclear bomb. It's like what happened when we dropped the (atom) bomb in World War II. The results were so catastrophic that now we'll do anything to avoid dropping another one."

Reference article: "The 'Death Penalty' and How the College Sports Conversation Has Changed"

Links to videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHHrVQuUmzI

https://time.com/3720498/ncaa-smu-death-penalty/

Q1)As you are the NCAA Enforcement Staff, justify SMU football program's death penalty punishment. Provide your justification with the supporting evidence.