Coach X helms a top NCAA football program. This is his first column in a series of unfiltered looks into the world of sports.

BETWEEN OHIO STATE AND TATTOO-GATE, West Virginia and coaching scandals, North Carolina and shady agents, Oregon and Will Lyles (the "recruiting service" guy), and Miami and its boastful booster, I don't remember an off-season with this much negative publicity. Recently, I've heard people say there's more cheating in college football, or, "Boy, if Jim Tressel is really like that, then everyone must be like that." And that is simply not true.

There are just more eyeballs on it. Back in the day, only certain people had a platform, and even then a lot of local media were friends of the program. They kept things from coming out. Now it's a cutthroat business. With everybody crying for content and a lot of personal agendas out there, it's no secret that dirt sells.