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That the Miami investigation was bungled on the heels of the news that the Shabazz Muhammad case may have been handled inappropriately is a one-two gut punch to the NCAA, its image and, most importantly, its credibility, Dana O'Neil writes.

With college football in the books and nonconference basketball season all but over, let's take a look at the first-half winners and losers.

It's easy to be cynical when speaking about NCAA academic requirements. But lest we forget, college sports is very often about offering opportunity where it didn't otherwise exist in exchange for hard work. And what's so wrong about that?

When it comes to determining the legitimacy and academic integrity of high school core courses, the NCAA deems itself an authority. When it comes to fraudulent courses on college campuses, such as the scandal at North Carolina, it defers to the institution. There's a word for that: baloney.

The dance between the NCAA's Eligibility Center and a school can often be more contentious than collaborative when trying to clear a student with red flags. As conversations with the High School Review and Kansas coach Bill Self show, there are valid points to be made on both sides of the divide.

The High School Review arm of the NCAA's Eligibility Center deals regularly with horror stories and heartbreak. It's tasked with serving as judge and jury but it doesn't view its role as that of executioner; it's comprised of educators who are hopelessly understaffed in the face of changing educational standards and the eligibility cottage industry that has emerged alongside it.

The NCAA's new eligibility standards begin this fall for high school freshmen. Can you draw uniform lines to determine what constitutes an academically prepared student-athlete? The NCAA believes it can; others aren't so sure.

Penn State basketball has always needed football. Men's hoops coach Patrick Chambers knows this. What's different now? Football, with new Nittany Lions coach Bill O'Brien at the helm, needs basketball, field hockey and just about everything else more than ever.

As the NCAA's presidential retreat gets under way in Indy, skeptics abound. But the man at the top and the 54 attendees are convinced that meaningful change is coming -- and soon.

A cost of attendance adjustment is merely one of a myriad of suggestions in the hot-button issue of paying college athletes. But for many schools, keeping up with The Joneses is not as easy or as simplistic as it sounds.

Pay-for-play is not a simplistic argument, especially to those athletes and students on the inside -- like Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins.

Domestic violence is an under-the-radar epidemic on college campuses, brought to light seemingly only when an athlete is accused. While some athletes are part of the problem, others are attempting to be part of the solution.

Plenty of college football players are forced to sit out bowl games because of poor academics. Basketball players sitting out March Madness? That's not happening. And the much-heralded APR? More bark than bite when it comes to hoops. Is there a solution?

USC's hefty self-imposed sanctions could be just the tip of the iceberg as the school tries to get in front of a hearing with the NCAA Committee on Infractions.

Kansas sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor will be out up to four weeks with a dislocated thumb sustained in an altercation involving several football and basketball players, coach Bill Self said.

Online social networks have opened up a new frontier when it comes to colleges communicating with recruits. It's also exposing new shades of gray when it comes to the NCAA's recruiting guidelines.