According to an article in today's Wall Street Journal, "there are 17 schools with major athletic departments (whose football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision) that have never been found guilty of any major violation in any sport since 1953, when the NCAA began tracking rule violations." The Mid-American Conference is singled out for special attention, with five such programs, more than any other conference. Kudos to Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Kent State, OHIO™, and Western Michigan for running clean programs -- or at least not getting busted -- for the last 57 years!
Apparently one of the factors in the MAC's infraction-free programs is a conference infractions committee that meets in person twice a year to reviews "every violation, no matter how minor" committed by MAC schools.
"When you see the violations all at once, you can see them as trends," said Jackie Mynarski, the MAC's associate commissioner for institutional services. The group asks questions about the infractions, then the school's representative leaves the room while the committee decides whether additional penalties are appropriate.
The non-MAC programs mentioned are Air Force, Boise State*, Boston College, Colorado State, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Northwestern, Penn State, Rice, Stanford, Troy, and UAB.