Because we had nothing else to write and think about in the time leading up to and then the time spent covering the Gator Bowl, ESPN’s Outside the Lines showed Florida State’s athletic department in a rather negative light Sunday … which, when you consider recent charges and convictions, is saying something when talking about Florida State. (Good video as a sidebar.)

Beyond that, some learning disabled athletes drink from a fire hose of course assistance. At Florida State, classroom accommodations, such as note-takers and untimed tests, are dispensed by the campus disability center that is available to all students. But athletes also have the resources of a $1.5 million-a-year athletic academic support unit with 32 computers, private tutoring rooms and a five-station “Learning Center” for athletes with learning disabilities or deficiencies.

That’s where Monk set up camp, working on papers and other assignments with what she estimates were about 65 learning disabled athletes. She tells “Outside the Lines” that more than a third of the football team, and three-quarters of the basketball team, had learning disabilities. FSU spokesman Rob Wilson did not respond to requests by “Outside the Lines” for information on the number of learning disabled athletes who were in the program when Monk left.

In addition to ignoring that request, Bobby Bowden is trying to keep a distance and seems like he just wants to be left alone  until he gets out of town. The Florida State A.D. warned of “false information” within the report before it even came out. The school also accused ESPN of misleading viewers and tried to get the network to nix the piece. That all sounds good, but I’d like to see how or why ESPN was wrong — and that may very well happen.

Meanwhile, WVU is pretty comfortable with its academic situation, though it seems every year there are white-knuckle eligibility moments before the bowl game.