We Don't Deserve This.

We just don't. And when I say that, I don't mean "we deserve a better coach than JLS" or "Jeff Long should have never fired Bobby Petrino." We did the right thing. We showed substantially more integrity and commitment to the University's reputation than many other of our peers would have. So in the name of whatever Karmic force oversees college football, why do we deserve this?

Full disclosure: I wish Petrino was still our coach, which you should interpret as "I wish Bobby Petrino had never hired his slam-piece to be on his staff."

The SEC has a reputation for being a "dirty" conference, with most of the shots coming from our brethren from the B1G, despite the fact that they've recently shown that they're hardly saints themselves. Most of that attitude comes from watching B1G commissioner Jim Delaney puff his chest out about academics, despite the fact that the B1G rosters are absolutely packed with players who couldn't get into Big Ten schools on their academic merits alone. Academic integrity, indeed. But that isn't even the B1G's biggest hypocrisy.

Penn State should have been burned to the ground for what went on in Happy Valley, and their delusional, rationalizing fanbase would have deserved everything they got. Don't believe me? Head on over to their Rivals board and check out what they're saying. That place makes Hogville look like it's populated exclusively by Rhodes' Scholars. Yet, they're still playing football. Considering that they're apparently dragging their feet on settling with Jerry Sandusky's victims, it might be nice if the NCAA could maybe revisit giving them the Death Penalty.

Ohio State managed to get away with widespread NCAA major violations, including an active coverup by their coach, with a relative slap on the wrist... including a sweetheart deal that allowed half a dozen ineligible players to play in the Sugar Bowl. Less than 12 months later, they're hiring a recently "unretired" Urban Meyer, and are again given yet another sweetheart deal to hire more coaches than is usually allowed so that they can get an early start on recruiting. No one will ever confuse Meyer with a "clean" coach, either, considering his player arrest record at Florida.

5 players (including several key players) have been dismissed due to arrests from the Arkansas roster since JLS took over, all for first time offenses. Again, that was the right thing to do. Similar violations garner a 1-game suspension at Michigan, by the way.

Heck, in our own backyard, Auburn was practically rewarded for the Cam Newton situation. If nothing else, it appears Newton was a good investment for the Tigers, so I'd expect to to see them do it again in the future.

And yet, we fired (rightfully so, I might add) one of the most statistically successful coaches in Arkansas history without a single law broken or NCAA violation committed, at a time that was inconvenient, at best, for replacing him. Our reward: the first loss - ever - to a Sunbelt team, widespread player injuries, and serious concerns if we'll even be bowl eligible.

We don't deserve this. We did the right thing. So, where's the cosmic sense of justice? We did the right thing.

We did the right thing.