The recent accusations about Auburn quarterback Cam Newton’s recruitment are damning.

The best player in the country is now in the spotlight for something other than his stellar play.

But are they anything new? Are they symptomatic of a broken system where an incompetent NCAA struggles to find and punish offenders?

No, they’re not anything new. Money and big-time college football and basketball have gone together like a horse and carriage for decades.

Oklahoma’s pay-for-play scandals under Barry Switzer, Southern Methodist’s death penalty for egregious violations, Alabama’s Albert Means case and the USC Reggie Bush debacle are all part of a fabric of scandal that stretches back to the 1950s, when the “hundred-dollar handshake” became shady booster de riguer.

With the massive revenue generated by college football, thanks to gigantic TV deals, the stakes for securing better talent have only increased.

The best way to view the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) is that it is a high-dollar, minor-league feeder system for the NFL. All of the NCAA’s blather about “student-athletes” and new regulations just make it harder, not impossible, and ensure that only the wealthiest and prestigious football and basketball programs can compete on the big stage.

These modern athletes are ones who just happen to go to school and, thanks to the Academic Progress Rate regulation, will graduate in a useless major like underwater basket weaving. They’re athletes first, students second. Not all of them fit that template, but looking at the majors during a telecast draws snickers. Remember “urban studies?” Like you can get a job in the real world with that on your diploma.

Not all big-time college football is like that, but the exceptions stand out like a Yamaha at a Harley-Davidson motorcycle rally.

If you want to see true student athletes playing for the love of the game, the FCS, Division II and Division III (no athletic scholarships) are the last vestiges of the old system where students played football for enjoyment and school pride, not dollars and cents.

Colleges have attached themselves to this beast of big-money football and receive millions of dollars in exchange for a Faustian deal with the devil.

If anything comes of the Newton allegations, Cam and his father, Cecil, will pay the price. Auburn will go on probation if the coaching staff played him despite eligibility questions. They’ll likely have to vacate all of the wins this season, but in the grand scheme of things, it’ll be a slap on the wrist. To the fans in the stands and the boosters in the skyboxes and the school administration who enriched their school coffers, it won’t matter that the exciting season will be blanked from the record book like it didn’t happen.

Resign yourself to the fact that you’re watching unofficial pro football. It just happens to be played on a college campus near you.

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Steve Wilson is sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. You can follow him on Twitter at vpsportseditor. He can be reached at 601-636-4545, ext. 142 or at swilson@vicksburgpost.com.