A Big Ten coach is famous for having said: "Football is not a contact sport. Football is a collision sport." Unfortunately, more than Big Ten football has become a collision sport this year, and now the entire collegiate basketball game has been disgraced by widespread violence on the courts.

It started getting attention a few weeks ago when Marquette played South Carolina in a nationally-televised match-up of two of the nation's top teams. As tempers flared in the close game, a fist fight broke out between players and fans. Fortunately, someone had the intelligence to play the national anthem over the loudspeaker and quell the anger.

One week later television viewers watched a Notre Dame player be tackled as he went in for a lay-up in the closing minutes of a nip-and-tuck battle. Fortunately, Digger Phelps, the Irish coach, got to the two boys before any other players could act.

But what seemed merely the outward direction of inward frustration became far more than that this week. In case you haven't seen the films of the Ohio State-Minnesota game, don't be deluded into thinking that this was just another "flare-up." In the closing moments of the game. Minnesota's Clyde Turner threw Ohio State's Luke Witte to the floor to avoid an OSU lay-up. Turner, hearing he was ejected from the game, began swinging. Meanwhile, as Minnesota's Corky Taylor helped the stunned Witte to his feet, he kneed him in the groin and sent him sprawling. Taylor claims that Witte spit on him, but films show Witte to be groggy and passive. As Witte lay on the floor for the second time, Minnesota's Ron Behagen ran off the bench and began stomping on Witte's head. OSU coach Fred Taylor had to drag Behagen off Witte.

While news reports featured the OSU-Minnesota fight last night, the Providence-Southern Cal game created more hostilities. In this instance, a Providence player was knocked to the floor by an unnecessary foul, and he came up looking like Terry Daniels fighting to stay in the ring.

We've become accustomed to fights breaking out at Harvard hockey games, but there is something very disgraceful about a fight on a gym court. First, each of the fights has developed into a hit-and-run battle, where a player swings and takes off down the court to hit the next unsuspecting player. Second, unlike hockey, fans have rushed the court to join in the fray.

Something should be done, and not just because we hold sports on some kind of pedestal that can't be lowered to the level of physical conflict. Particularly on a hard-wood gym floor, someone is going to get decked and seriously injured in the near future. And violence is starting to become an acceptable tactic, to some players if not to coaches. In hockey, we've had to watch Brown purposely try to remove Joe Cavanagh from play. It's generally acknowledged that if you get into a fight you make sure you "take someone good" with you from the other team. Downfield blocking and fights may become a part of basketball.

What should be done? First, the NCAA should remove the source of most of the violence. A blatant foul should result in an automatic two points. That would eliminate the desire to "make sure he doesn't get the shot off."

Second, Harvard should act now, before something happens, to make fighting an automatic suspension from any team. There should be no qualitative judgments. The only way to make a deterant effective is to let each athlete know that one swing means automatic dismissal for a specific period of time.

Ideally, however, this personal restriction is not enough. Hot-headed players aren't going to think of suspensions or two points when they are irritated and angry. The only solution really is to put pressure on teammates, coaches and fans against the fighting. The NCAA should make the first blow an automatic forfeit to that team. Let each coach and player know that one angry player left in the game could cost the team the loss.

A third official might be needed, and there will be a lot of bickering over lines of distinction and "goading" a player into fighting. But let the officials be overly reactive now so that the thought of violence is removed from the players.

It would be nice if the restrictions could be extended to hockey. Anyone who saw last year's Harvard-Cornell hockey game had to be disgusted when they saw Harvard fans reach over the glass and pull a Cornell player off his skates by his head. Maybe there could be a strong system for blatant elbowing or slashing with intent to injure.

All of these suggestions can be opposed because they involve too many subjective judgments. But it is a joke when Big Ten commissioner Wayne Duke says he has to "review again" the films of this week's brawl. Now the players think they can get away with some things but not everything; the administrators should make them think they can't get away with anything at all.