Strange: Textbook football costs Tide win over UT

Hey, Tennessee football fan, feel any better now?

If I were composing a list of the 10 most gut-wrenching defeats of the Phillip Fulmer era, the 6-3 loss at Alabama in 2005 would be on there somewhere.

It's gone now. Wiped off the books.

Vacated is the proper term in NCAA lingo.

The Crimson Tide is vacating 21 wins 2005-07 as punishment for athletes abusing the textbook-distribution policy.

So, we set the Way-Back Machine for Oct. 22, 2005, in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

It's like Corey Anderson never fumbled as he rushed toward the Alabama end zone. Picture him going in standing up and spiking the football for a 10-3 UT lead.

It's like Brodie Croyle never hit D.J. Hall with a third-and-8 bomb for 43 yards into Tennessee territory as the clock ticked down. Picture the pass sailing high out of bounds.

It's like Jamie Christensen never kicked the game-winning field goal with 13 seconds to play. Picture wide right.

If only you could believe in your heart of hearts that textbooks had anything in the world to do with the heartburn outcome.

Maybe if safety Roman Harper had separated the football from Anderson's grip by swatting him across the wrist with Economics 101 instead of a good hard lick.

The 2006 game was unaffected because the Vols won, 16-13. Arian Foster dived over the pile with 3:28 left for the go-ahead score.

But if Foster had, say, fumbled as Anderson did the year before? No problem. Eventually. A 13-9 Alabama win would have been tossed out this week.

One of the two on-field wins Alabama didn't have to give up in the three-year span was a 41-17 triumph over the Vols in 2007.

Shortly before kickoff - a tone-setting onside kick that Alabama recovered - the school announced the suspension of five players, including starters Antoine Caldwell, Marlon Davis and Glen Coffee. This was the first whiff of the textbook investigation that came to judgment last week, 20 months later.

Seeing hard-gained results over Tennessee vanish is not unprecedented for the Crimson Tide. It first happened in 1993.

The final score was 17-17, after Alabama scored a touchdown and then a two-point conversion with 21 seconds to play at Legion Field. It was a tie but sure felt like a loss to UT fans who could virtually taste their first win over the Tide since 1985.

Alabama later forfeited the tie, as well as nine wins, because star defensive back Antonio Langham had nefarious dealings with an agent in the previous offseason.

Compared to NCAA violations involving agents and buying recruits (Albert Means), textbook distribution seems petty, a misdemeanor.

Ray Melick of the Birmingham News suggested the most appropriate penalty:

Require the athletes to read every textbook he or she distributed and write a detailed report on each.

Waiver Wire: Does college basketball have a waiver wire now?

A couple of SEC roster movements this week raise the issue. There's no salary cap but there is a scholarship cap.

On Thursday, Tyler Smith announced he's coming back to UT for his senior year rather than test the NBA draft. The following day, the speculated Philip Jurick transfer became official.

Thus the Vols are snug at 12 scholarships, their maximum due to an APR penalty.

Coach Bruce Pearl's statement that Jurick is expected to transfer to Chattanooga State Community College and might one day return to UT further suggests a major-league context. It's as if Jurick is being sent down to Double-A to improve his game and could in time be recalled.

The revolving door at Wildcat Lodge has been spinning as new Kentucky coach John Calipari clears out Billy Gillispie players to make room for his blue-chip signees.

This week Matt Pilgram became the latest Wildcat "waived" to get down to the scholarship limit and all indications are that Kevin Galloway will be next.

Ex-Trojan Horses?: The turmoil in Southern Cal basketball is impacting the SEC.

Renardo Sidney, a 6-foot-10 McDonald's All-American and former USC commitment, signed with Mississippi State last month after the Trojans curtailed their relationship with him.

Now, point guard Lamont Jones has been given his release in the wake of coach Tim Floyd's resignation. There's a fair chance Jones lands at Florida, according to the Gainesville Sun.

The Gators need a point guard since Nick Calathes left to play in Greece.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strangem@knoxnews.com.