Jul 22, 2014 11:37 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

During the Big 12 Conference's annual Media Days event, commissioner Bob Bowlsby had a particularly pointed comment directed at the NCAA's enforcement practices.

According to ESPN, he said "cheating pays" for bigger schools because they can often pay the fine thanks to huge revenues being shared amongst the Power Five conferences. The NCAA also benefits because these major Division I conferences are the most visible and profitable for college sports' governing body.

"Enforcement is broken," Bowlsby said Monday at the Big 12 Media Days event in Dallas. "The infractions committee hasn't had [an FBS] hearing in almost a year, and I think it's not an understatement to say cheating pays presently. If you seek to conspire to certainly bend the rules, you can do it successfully and probably not get caught in most occasions.

"I think all of that in the end will cause programs to be eliminated. I think you'll see men's Olympic sports go away as a result of the new funding challenges that are coming down the pipe. I think there may be tension among and between sports on campus and institutions that have different resources. It's really unknown what the outcomes will be."

The Big 12 chief alluded to the O'Bannon vs. NCAA case that is currently awaiting a ruling from U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken. Ed O'Bannon sued the NCAA five years ago for profiting off his name, image and likeness without compensating him. Since, several other current and former college athletes have helped make the case a class-action lawsuit and the Wilken's ruling could force the NCAA to alter its model of amateurism.

The Northwestern University football team is also attempting to form a union and if successful, more teams across the nation could do the same. The team held a vote, but the results have been sealed pending an appeal of the decision to allow the team to unionize.

Several football coaches from the Big 12 responded to Bowlsby's comments, NewsOK.com reported.

Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State:

"This is a huge can of worms and I really hate to say anything. I don't know what's going on with them. I think there's a lot of uncertainty in different areas. He knows a lot more about it than I do. He has a lot of experience in dealing with situations and groups like this. I have heard him say that before, not publicly. Can't say I disagree. It's gotten so big, I'm not sure there's enough people out there to police it."

Art Briles, Baylor:

"I think their force level has diminished, because of lawsuits. Maybe they're not as quick to keep kids from playing. To me, they're our governing body. So I listen until they tell me who else to listen to. Only frustration I would have is maybe on transfers and summer camps, the leniency of some of those things we have seen over the last 2-3 years. There is not a lot of teeth in what can happen in some of those instances, maybe because of the way the climate of the world is, with the NCAA. They still row my boat, I promise you that."

Gary Patterson, TCU:

"Here's how I've always looked at it. Whether it's coaching or any other part of business, everybody in that profession knows how they do their business. I've said to our AD, we were able to, in other conferences that we've played in, if you took it for tax purposes, you would say we were able to do the short form and still win. Now you're in a league where you have to do deductions. Deductions still means there's loopholes in the system and there's still by the rule, but whatever you can do as a university, you have to do it. I don't think you have to go outside of that. Usually why that all happens is because people don't want to work as hard at it. If you want to go out and outwork people, there's still a way to do that."

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