Four United Methodist bishops who spent three...

Four United Methodist bishops who spent three months investigating the play-for-pay football scandal at Southern Methodist University will disclose their findings to university trustees today.

The bishops will meet with the trustees to discuss the report, which will be made public at a mid-afternoon news conference.

Bishops were asked in March by SMU trustees to investigate claims by Texas Gov. Bill Clements that he and other SMU officials had agreed in 1985 not to stop improper payments to some members of the Mustang football team.

Meanwhile, boosters and former players at SMU reacted angrily to sanctions against the University of Texas by the National Collegiate Athletic Assn., saying that they were not strong enough.

The NCAA put Texas on two years’ probation with a year of sanctions, including the loss of five scholarships for the next recruiting season and a reduction in the number of official visits that recruits may make to the Austin campus, from 95 to 75.

The penalties announced against Texas made no mention of a ban against playing in bowl games or on television. Many SMU supporters called the penalties merely “a slap on the wrist.”

In February, SMU received the stiffest football sanctions in NCAA history. Its 1987 season was canceled and its 1988 season limited to seven road games. The school was restricted to 15 scholarships though 1990 and to six assistant coaches through 1990. SMU later decided on its own to sit out the 1988 season, as well.