Who could guess that one of the most literal manifestations of George Orwell’s idea of historical revisionism would come in the form of college sports?

Yes, the NCAA, everyone’s favorite comically incompetent regulating body, has decided that the Wichita State baseball team must forfeit wins from 2011-13, as well as pay a $5,000 fine and go on probation for a year because 21 players racked up more than $7,000 worth of bills in purchasing things such as shoes and hunting gear with money that was supposed to be applied elsewhere.

That’s certainly a legitimate violation of NCAA rules, and the baseball program should pay for it. But the specific punishment makes little sense.

Anyone who follows college sports knows the NCAA is a joke and always has been. Players sacrifice their bodies to generate unimaginable sums of money for universities and they never see a dime.

It also took them over a century to implement something resembling a real postseason in college football, and there are still plenty of kinks to work out there.

But the real punchline always comes in the form of sanctions like this, which are consistently inconsistent in their severity.

According to the NCAA, USC didn’t embarrass Oklahoma in the 2004 football championship game because some players received gifts. Ohio State’s football team, according to now-official records, went completely winless in 2010 because players got free tattoos.

However, they basically exonerated former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno recently by giving back all 111 wins they vacated after it was discovered that he played a role in covering up years of child rape in his facilities.

I’m of the opinion that vacating wins for infractions that caused no unfair competitive advantage is nonsense, but if they’re going to do it, they might as well stick with it.

Otherwise, the NCAA has made it clear that their priorities lie in protecting the legacies figurehead coaches who may have been complicit in evil deeds over caring for and recognizing the accomplishments of players.

The WSU baseball program has historically been compliant with NCAA policies, and head coach Todd Butler self-reported these violations when they were discovered. He also suspended players who were involved.

The NCAA’s regulations exist for a reason, and obviously they can’t let the program slide. But the punishment in this situation clearly doesn’t fit the crime.

Those players won those games, and no amount of Orwellian rewriting will change that. The NCAA either needs to completely revamp its rules and punishment policies, or make way for a better regulatory body for college sports