Auburn’s tough call

Start with this:

“The solicitation of cash or benefits by either a potential student-athlete or another person on their behalf is not allowed under N.C.A.A. rules,” Stacey Osburn, an N.C.A.A. spokeswoman, said Thursday. She was speaking about N.C.A.A. rules and not specifically about Newton.

Asked what the punishment would be in those cases, Osburn said: “That would depend on the specifics of the situation. It would be like any other rules violation. It would depend on the level of responsibility of either the student-athlete or the university as well as the scope of the violations. We look at a number of factors for all of our rules violations.”

If the N.C.A.A. provides Auburn with evidence that Newton or his father broke rules, Auburn would have to decide Newton’s fate.

… Speaking generally, Osburn said that knowingly playing an ineligible student-athlete could make a university “subject to harsher penalties down the road.”

So, if proven, the mere solicitation of cash by Cecil Newton from MSU is a NCAA rules violation.  Auburn’s immediate problem, then, arises if it receives information from the NCAA that there is fire accompanying all the smoke we’ve smelled the past two weeks.  How far fetched is that?  Put it this way – a lot less than we thought before the last three days.  Yahoo!’s Charles Robinson writes that the NCAA may recommend today that Auburn sit Newton for tomorrow’s game.

From the Tigers’ perspective, that’s rough being asked with all that’s at stake to sit the best player of the 2010 season because of something that happened on the recruiting trail at another school and which didn’t directly involve the player.  But as much as they may want to fulfill the promise of 2010, how much do Auburn’s coaches and administration want to jeopardize the future of the program by tempting the NCAA to impose more severe penalties?

The calculus that has to be weighed in making a determination isn’t pretty.  To proceed as if there’s no risk, Auburn has to be convinced that:

• Kenny Rogers’ latest version of the facts is a complete fabrication;
• John Bond is a liar;
• Bill Bell is a liar;
• The MSU coaches who reported the Newton conversations are liars; and
• Cecil Newton isn’t a liar.

If I’m Auburn, I’m mighty uncomfortable with that list after Kenny Rogers.

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UPDATE: If all else fails, maybe they can blame it on Dan Mullen.