Something I think everybody should keep in mind is the NCAA doesn't have to find a smoking gun for them to nail a school to the wall. If they even begin to think there is something shady being covered up, this isn't a court of law. In their minds, they don't have to prove anything beyond a reasonable doubt. As long as they can get inside the ballpark, they're OK with that. That's why I find this "they're trying to get the bag man to come forward" stuff BS. If they've found a money trail, or found that Cecil received money, then:
1. They already know who the "bag man" is, and wouldn't need him to "come forward"
2. They already tied Cecil to receiving money. Game over. No "bag man" needed.
Bottom line is it's all bullshit. Typical conspiracy theory, though. Create a conspiracy, then create another hypothetical conspiracy that will have taken place to prevent the original conspiracy from happening if none of it works out.
This is a misconception.
The NCAA has never punished a school without conclusive proof of a rule being broken.
Finding a money trail is the smoking gun. Discovering that the second Cam Newton signed with Auburn, Cecil suddenly received $50,000 is a smoking gun.
The problem right now is that Sheridan didn't say the NCAA has a smoking gun. He started to. But then he retracted.
He said they're just tying up loose ends. Finding the bagman to make it a slam dunk case.
Then he said if they've found a money trail, they'll need a bagman.
Then he fell further and said, "The NCAA is alleging that a bagman may have played a role in getting money to Cecil Newton, but they're still looking for the money trail."
Then he might as well have thrown his hands up in the air and said, "I don't know," when he said, "50/50 shot Auburn gets into trouble."
Then he lost all credibility as a Vegas insider (not that anyone will actually catch this) when he said that Auburn should win 9 games or Chizik is a total failure, but Auburn will be the underdog is 7 of their 12 games this season.
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