You are wrong on this one to the effect that you are minimizing the seriousness of the situation. Whether you like the SACS or not (by the way, neither do I care for them much) is irrelevant. They do have power. The seriousness of the situation rests in the areas as I pointed out. Academic Research Grants, Tuition Assistance Grants for Graduate (PhD Students), etc. This is a HUGE, absolutely HUGE factor and the SACS placing a school on probation certainly has a direct and immediate effect in the ability to obtain research grants. At least, in some situations it does. Much of the U.S News Rankings for Schools is based on research prowess. If you are a federal government authority or state government authority with the power to give a yes or no on research money to school on academic probation, you are going to think twice about doing so in some situations. This will force much of UNC's researchers and grant writers to attain private funds and that is not easy to do. Like I wrote, it's a major slap in the face to UNC's academic prowess and will carry weight for many years. I also pointed out in the very first post of the thread that..........as far as athletic attachment and the SACS probation status for UNC, it is somewhat meaningless. Smitty, LMAO, went to a football board, LMAO for UNC and was concerned as to whether the fans were talking about it. That's the wrong place to look. I would love to be a fly on the wall in the room with some of the academic professors as they are shuffling through their emails, or how they are getting letters, calls, and emails from research IRB (Institutional Review Boards) about how they have to amend their research proposals for the millions they are trying to obtain in grant money to show how they can be trusted due to the recent SACS sanctions.