DETROIT ? Only in college sports can a school throw the book at itself.

And only in college sports do the culprits go free, while someone else pays.

The biggest questions you should ask after Michigan’s self-flagellation Thursday are these: How much does Ed Martin suffer? How much does Chris Webber suffer? How much do Louis Bullock, Robert Traylor or Maurice Taylor suffer?

The answer, to all of the above: not one bit.

And that’s insane.

If you do the crime, you should do some time. If not, what is the point of a law? To inflict pain, regardless? How is that fair? How is it that Tommy Amaker, the current coach of the Wolverines, whose record is unblemished, who was working at Duke when all this went on, now has to be punished by forfeiting his chance at postseason tournaments?

How is it that the current squad of Wolverines :quot; who presumably don’t even KNOW Ed Martin :quot; is paying for his sins?

How is it that the current athletic director or the current school president :quot; neither of whom was here when Martin was handing money to U-M players :quot; now must see their program embarrassed, banners taken down, money returned, victories erased, while Webber drives his expensive cars in California, while Martin does time for real crimes, while Traylor and Taylor collect NBA paychecks?

“This,” said UM’s current president, Mary Sue Coleman, “is a day of great shame.”

For some, apparently, more than others.

Now. It’s true, if Steve Fisher knew about Martin’s funny money, and Fisher, as coach, was an employee of the school, and Martin, by definition, was considered a “booster,” then through the transitive property of NCAA violations, the school has to pay :quot; even if some of it happened 10 years ago. Personally, I think Fisher was conveniently benign :quot; a sort of see-no-evil, hear-no-evil guy. But remember, he did suffer for this mess: He was fired, and is working at a far lower-profile job than he had in Ann Arbor.

You can’t say the same for the players. How exactly were they hurt? What price have they paid for knowingly breaking the rules? I haven’t heard even a tepid apology. And lest you think these look-the-other-way college payoff deals are always the adults’ fault, ask yourself this: What exactly are college coaches supposed to do if the players lie to them as well?

Sure, you can see a kid driving a new car and say, “Where did you get that?” And when the kid says, “My aunt bought it for me,” and you check out the ownership and the aunt’s name is indeed there, what are you supposed to do? You could keep prying. You could tell the kid he’s lying. You could hold his head over the fire. You could demand to see every receipt for every watch, every piece of jewelry, every new shirt. You could follow him home on weekends. And you still might not find out what’s going on.

What you will do is alienate your players, and your team, and possibly new recruits who learn that, in addition to a coach, they are about to acquire a security guard.

At what point are these players actually responsible for their own actions? Sure. They’re 18 and 19 and 20. So? We send soldiers to war at that age and ask them to act responsibly. This is basketball.