Honor code violation creates new kind of March Madness at BYU

For the past four days, the suspension of BYU forward Brandon Davies has garnered more media attention than the No. 3-ranked BYU basketball team was getting for its play on the court.

Media outlets from the Washington Post to People.com have chronicled Davies violation of the school's honor code, which stemmed from him having premarital sex.

And now, BYU has hit late night.

TBS' late night talk show host Conan O'Brien referenced Davies' situation during his monologue (fast forward to the 2:01 mark):

"Brigham Young University has kicked one of its star basketball players off the team for violating a school rule that prohibits sex outside of marriage. On the bright side, something tells me he's going to do just fine in the NBA."

The other notable names in O'Brien's monologue? Charlie Sheen, Bill Clinton and Jersey Shore star Snooki. Solid company.

While the comment wasn't really a jab at either BYU or Davies, it just an example of how popular BYU and its honor code have become in the past week. BYU even held a 35-minute press conference Thursday explaining the honor code and its decision to suspend Davies from the team for the rest of the season.

"We don't want to throw (Davies) to the wolves -- that's not our intention at all -- but we understand that...with high-profile people, they're going to (receive) the attention of the media. We won't relax the Honor Code for a situation that has to do with a basketball player," BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe said.

Does all this attention seem a little excessive to anyone else? People magazine, Conan and national network news? Really?

OK, let's take a step back for a second. The timing on this couldn't have been worse for BYU. The Cougars had just beaten rival San Diego State for the second time this season, ascended to No. 3 in the national polls and several national pundits were declaring them a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament in two weeks. They were the Cinderella story of a "mid-major" rising up against the big bad Big Six power conferences and showing the world they belong.

And then along comes the honor code and ruins the perfect story. And because people don't understand the honor code, don't like it or don't respect it, every major media outlet, former BYU athlete, random student and Joe Blow off the street opines about the honor code, which has governed BYU campuses for nearly six decades.

Where was all this attention 11 months ago when BYU's all-time leading rusher Harvey Unga was going through the exact same thing? Unga and women's basketball player Keilani Moeaki, reportedly Unga's girlfriend of three years, both voluntarily withdrew from school following an honor code violation and ended promising careers. Unga, with the backing of football coach Bronco Mendenhall, pled with the Honor Code Council by saying that his voluntary withdrawl displayed his eagerness to show remorse and make things right. The pleas fell on deaf ears and Unga, a senior and an NFL prospect, lost his final year of eligibility and shot at the NFL Draft.

At the time, Unga was arguably the best offensive player at BYU and a huge piece for a team that was integrating a new quarterback, new tight ends and other young running backs.

However, news on Unga was sparse outside of the local media. It might have hit some national roundups, but it never got the depth of attention that Davies suspension has received. And let's not get it twisted. Unga was the team's all-time leading rusher and arguably the best returning offensive threat. Davies is the third best player on the team behind national player of the year candidate Jimmer Fredette and guard Jackson Emery. Though if you watched the New Mexico game on Wednesday, you might have thought Davies was the most important player on the team.

Really, it's all about timing. One happens two weeks before the start of the NCAA Tournament, the other five months before the college football season opener.

And now everyone is capitalizing at BYU's expense.

Joanna Krupa Ashley Olsen Danneel Harris Veronika Vaeková Eve