With the allegations that a handler of Cam Newton told Mississippi St. that it would cost nearly $200,000 to get him to play football at Mississippi St., the question is now what. The NCAA is investigating Newton's recruitment and if he is declared ineligible, it would be a devastating blow for both Auburn and the BCS as it would lose one of its top teams. With the questions lingering, what should Auburn do?
My answer is one that is surprising. Auburn should play Newton while the investigation continues. Many things out there seem to point to Newton possibly being exonerated and that it was a rogue contact who is already being investigated by the NFL Players Association for agent improprieties causing the problem.
First, Auburn has been playing Newton. If they believed there was a significant issue like this one that would cause a problem, they would have sat him out just as Georgia did with A.J. Green (remember that Green missed the first game before he knew what his suspension was) and North Carolina did with its gaggle of suspended players earlier this season. That knowledge combined with the fact that the investigation has been ongoing for over a month means the only thing that has changed is the media now knows about everything.
Second, if this turns out to be true and someone in or related to the athletic department did pay Newton, the probation hammer is going to make Auburn a pile of smoking rubble no matter what the school does. If that is the case, there is no risk taken by playing him. If you don't play him and he is ineligible, you are still getting hammered. The precedent in money changing hands cases has already been set in the Albert Means case last decade when Kentucky and Alabama got crushed by probation, bowl bans and scholarship losses even though Means went to Memphis and had a middling career with that set of Tigers. If you do play him and he's ineligible, your fans at least get to enjoy watching a possibly transcendent talent and in this case, unlike many others, the consequences won't get worse. Play him or not, the result is still USC type sanctions if this is true.
Third, if you don't play him and he turns out to be eligible but you lose to Alabama because of it, rest assured the crazy fans on the plains will wants many someones heads on sticks and they will get them because when things go wrong on the plains at Auburn, the inmates run the asylum. Trust me, as a former student, I know. The only time the inmates who do stupid things haven't gotten what they wanted was when they botched their secret hiring of Bobby Petrino in 2003. If they want and/or need people's heads on a platter for their own selfish and self-righteous desires over this, they will get them, even if that includes the head coach, athletic director or even the school president. Its just the way things work at Auburn. You're only one loss to Alabama in an embarrassing fashion from possibly being shown the door.
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