We had a nice, anonymous bombshell of something this evening.

More legal charges still could come, but what’s becoming increasingly clear as the discovery portion of the case comes to a close is that the breadth of potential NCAA rules violations uncovered is wide enough to fundamentally and indelibly alter the sport of college basketball.

The soundtrack to the three federal basketball corruption cases is essentially a ticking time bomb, which will inevitably explode. It will impact every major conference, Hall of Fame coaches, a score of current top players and some of the nation’s most distinguished and respected programs.

Multiple sources who’ve been briefed on the case and are familiar with the material obtained by feds told Yahoo Sports that the impact on the sport will be substantial and relentless. Sitting under protective order right now are the fruits of 330 days of monitoring activity by the feds, which one assistant US Attorney noted Thursday was “a voluminous amount of material.” That includes wiretaps from 4,000 intercepted calls and thousands of documents and bank records obtained from raids and confiscated computers, including those from notorious NBA agent Andy Miller.

“This goes a lot deeper in college basketball than four corrupt assistant coaches,” said a source who has been briefed on the details of the case. “When this all comes out, Hall of Fame coaches should be scared, lottery picks won’t be eligible to play and almost half of the 16 teams the NCAA showed on its initial NCAA tournament show this weekend should worry about their appearance being vacated.”

Oooooohhhhh. Juicy.

Tell me more.

There’s a general expectation that this information will be released. It could come in trial, pre-trial motions or released by the government at some point. (No one is certain if they’ve agreed to eventually give it to the NCAA if it doesn’t go public.)

So how bad could be it? In terms of NCAA rules, multiple sources told Yahoo Sports that the material obtained threatens the fundamental structure and integrity of the sport, as there’s potentially as many 50 college basketball programs that could end up compromised in some way.

…

Until then, the NCAA tournament will be played amid the soundtrack – TICK, TICK, TICK – of potential chaos. Maybe the next one will, too. University presidents should be losing sleep. Millionaire coaches should be losing hair and plotting escapes to the NBA. And players should be preparing for their dirty laundry – or that of their relatives – to be aired.

What would happen if the information under protective order were to be released before the NCAA selection show on March 11?

A source who has been briefed on the case laughed: “You might see Tennessee-Chattanooga as a No. 2 seed.”

All so exciting, forboding. People reaching for their popcorn.

And yet…

It’s all so vague and empty. The questions hang over it all. Outside of Louisville, very little has changed in college basketball since the initial charges and arrests back in September. Instead, Miami, and Arizona are well on their way to the NCAA Tournament. As is Auburn. Hell, Bruce Pearl is getting admiring talk of how he could be in the running for coach of the year (if not for that other thing hanging around).

But let’s have a little thought experiment for the moment. Suppose it all comes to pass. Suppose there really is overwhelming evidence of widespread cheating among major conference programs. That 50 programs — presumably almost all from the major conferences along with the Big East and perhaps the AAC (UConn).

What happens? The NCAA is not an independent organization that oversees and controls the universities. The universities are the NCAA. The NCAA ultimately serves.

Then there is the money part. The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament overwhelmingly finances the NCAA. That means the employees of the NCAA are dependent on the NCAA Tournament continuing to rake in the money. You think they want to see that cash cow decimated?

To say nothing of the fight each university, each coach would put up to avoid vacating wins, titles, battle for reputation and avoid penalties.

What’s the way out, though? The NCAA would have to do something. Make at least an attempt to say they are cleaning things up. The illusion of the student-athlete must be maintained. So as to avoid any direct payments to kids and to avoid the complications that would come from redefining the relationship to more of a employer-employee relationship.

The answer lies with Major League Baseball. Remember the steroid era? What happened to that?

MLB convened a blue-ribbon investigation into the 90 and early aughts excess of chemical enhancements. Names were named and punishments were avoided. The teams may have turned blind-eyes and winked at things but they were largely absolved. As was the MLB organization.

They could claim to have done something regarding that time and argued that they helped clean up the game going forward. All the while, the records remained and nothing really happened. Questions still remain over doping in baseball, but since there is now some sort of testing people don’t seem to mind.

Players who were implicated have paid something of a price in being denied entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but even that seems to be softening over time.

That would be the way the NCAA takes it. A nice, long, meandering investigation based on whatever the feds have. Coaches would be named. Schools would somewhat acknowledge that they may not have been diligent. Everyone would promise to do better. Harsher penalties would be enacted going forward.

Some coaches and maybe players would have a harder time making the College Basketball Hall of Fame.

And then everyone would say they have learned their lesson and move forward with nothing changing.

I’m going to have a drink and then a shower.