The BCS committee announced Wednesday that the Fiesta Bowl gets to keep it’s BCS status, but is charged with a one million dollar fine.

Really?

That’s it?

A million dollars is nothing compared to the massive amounts of money that Fiesta Bowl employees were spending on so-called business meetings, supporting local politicians, and excessive personal use.

Besides the million dollar fine, the Fiesta Bowl is also being held to tougher auditing and a more thorough look at those appointed to be on the Fiesta board.

A statement released today by the Fiesta Bowl says they feel the punishment was “tough but fair”.

“We have learned some painful lessons and have already implemented many of the changes that will prevent this type of malfeasance from happening in the future,” the statement read.

What a joke.

Didn’t Fiesta Bowl execs drop way more than that at a strip club not to long ago and write it off as a business meeting? A million dollars is chump change to them. They can make that up in one day; on t-shirt sales.

The BCS states that the Fiesta Bowl taking immediate action on the situation and implementing new rules helped the committee in making their decision. Director of the BCS, Bill Hancock said Wednesday:

“Without those reforms, the task force almost certainly would have recommended ending the B.C.S. group’s relationship with the bowl. The reforms they have taken, combined with our sanctions, are serious and are focused on improving the management of the bowl.”

This is a classic case of bad behavior gets rewarded. The BCS let everyone know  that it’s okay to be a corrupt, greedy, manipulative organization. They will just give you a slap on the wrist and shove it under the rug until someone else gets caught.

But then again, we are talking about the BCS.