There’s a new potential cheating scandal in college football. It’s unclear, however, whether any cheating ever happened.
An item from Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram refers to a potential hack of the new coach-to-quarterback communication device used by Big 12 teams. The issue surfaced during the September 28 game between Texas A&M and Arkansas.
It’s a matter of vulnerability to hacking. The company that makes the communication device told Big 12 teams that a software update is needed.
Texas Tech asked the Big 12 to investigate whether teams were using the weakness to gain a competitive edge. As Engel notes, there’s a separate inside-information element at play, as it relates to gambling.
Engel reports that the Big 12 had planned as of Wednesday to issue an “integrity report,” finding that there was no reason to believe the issue had resulted in the co-opting of sensitive information. As of Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. CT, the report had not been published.
It’s hard to imagine a team intercepting that information and adjusting to it in real time. It’s less far-fetched to imagine bettors using the inside information for making pre-snap micro bets.
