Why Did the NCAA Let Auburn Off the Hook?

We were emailed a good question today.  "Why did the NCAA let Auburn off the hook?" - Rich from Arkansas.  It's a great question because it's an aspect of this we haven't really delved into. Motive is important,  and no one knows for sure what the motives were.  However, we can make some pretty good speculations from the information available.  Sure, the SEC and Mike Slive were pressuring the NCAA.  Also, the new NCAA president, Mark Emmert, is a fool.  These reasons are a given,  but we think there was a third reason that hasn't been discussed as much.




The NCAA  had never really been challenged.  In most cases, a school will try to self-impose penalties and do everything, short of offer up a human sacrifice, to appease the NCAA.  The closest the NCAA has ever gotten to a real fight was when USC questioned their findings and refused to cooperate. Auburn cooperated but used the NCAA's own rules against them. 

Auburn hired some of the best legal minds they could get.  Including Gene Marsh, a former chair of the NCAA's committee on infractions.  The strategy that Auburn used was, admittedly, nothing short of brilliant.  Most people believe that Auburn's main argument was that Cam Newton was not aware of his father's actions.  While that was one argument made,  we think another argument might have tipped the scales in Auburn's favor.  

Auburn argued that if the NCAA punished Newton now, it would do so without enough evidence.  The Auburn lawyers told the NCAA that punishing Newton would, more than likely, cause him to lose his chance at a Heisman trophy and destroy Auburn's chance at a national title.   It was less than subtly implied that if the NCAA was to punish, and later found out they shouldn't have, the lawsuits would start coming from all sides.  From an NCAA point of view, it is less damage done to rob Oregon or  TCU of a national title than to have to deal with lawsuits from Auburn and the Newtons.  A couple of key factors helped Auburn make this case.

First, is that Mark Emmert, the NCAA president, is very conscious of public perception.  He subscribes to the Mike Slive theory on cleaning up an organization.  If you stop looking, you won't find anything wrong.  Remember when Slive said he would make the SEC probation free?  Then he created a rule saying that SEC schools had to report to the SEC first, and allow the SEC to report to the NCAA. You can see how Mark Emmert makes his decisions here.

Second, is that the NCAA reinstatement committee was only allowed to consider information that Auburn provided.  So, obviously all of that information slanted towards reinstating and playing Cam Newton. 

The combination of not wanting to be sued, not wanting bad press, and using their own rules against them pushed the NCAA to make this decision.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming months.  A lot of folks are making statements about "When Auburn gets what is coming to them."  We wouldn't count on it.  The NCAA has been made a fool in the eyes of the public.  Mark Emmert is a prideful man.  We think he would easily value the NCAA not having to say we made a mistake, above actually getting to the bottom of this.  The simple truth is that Auburn and NCAA played chicken.  The NCAA blinked.

A little further reading on the NCAA and the Auburn case.
Tell Congress to Investigate the NCAA!



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