Muller: NCAA Still Investigating Auburn And Cam Newton

By Shawn Muller--

(CBS) I remember watching the Auburn Tigers celebrating their victory over the Oregon Ducks in the BCS National Championship game back in January and thinking to myself, "Man. How did Gene Chizik and his staff get away unscathed in the Cam Newton investigation?"

Anyone with half a brain knew that something shady must have occurred between the Auburn coaches and Newton's father Cecil. I mean really. How could anyone--outside of the delusional Auburn fan base--really believe everything was on the up and up?

Logic--one would think anyway--would tell you that if the price tag for Mississippi State was $180k, and Newton didn't sign with them, then Auburn simply outbid the Bulldogs for Cam's services. You would have to think that if a player's parent was seemingly shopping his kid around to the highest bidder, then wherever the kid decided to sign would have had to offer a sweeter "incentives package" than just a mere scholarship.

It looked like a pretty open and shut case, but the NCAA--in true NCAA fashion--magically concluded that there was no evidence Cam Newton or Auburn had any knowledge about Cecil's get-rich-quick scheme.

Really?

I, like many other college football fans around the country, just had to shake my head in disbelief with the NCAA and its investigation.

How could they manage to screw that one up?

But, as I and other college football fans had basically thrown in the towel on this one, potential trouble may not be over just yet for Gene Chizik and his Auburn Tigers football program after all.

According to the New York Times, an NCAA official told Gene Chizik that it is not yet finished investigating the Tiger program and the recruitment of Cam Newton during a presentation at the SEC meetings in Destin, FL last month.

Apparently, Chizik asked NCAA vice president of enforcement Julie Roe Lach a cluster of questions, one of which was why the NCAA had not announced the Newton investigation to be concluded.

Lach said to Chizik, "You'll know when we're finished. And we're not finished."

Mississippi head basketball coach Adam Kennedy, who was also at the meetings and witnessed the exchange, told the Times that he felt Chizik was, "trying to get some finality to when the process was over, and it was an interesting debate to say the least." Kennedy finished by adding, "I think the format of the meeting was set up to be generally about the lay the land moving forward. When [Chizik] got into specific questions regarding their situation, I think we were all sitting back saying, 'I didn't know that we were going there.'"

Finding closure is exactly what Gene Chizik and the Auburn Tigers need at this point.

I mean, let"s face it: That program is on the clock.

With the North Carolina being investigated, Oregon being investigated, and Ohio State being investigated, Auburn wants the Cam Newton investigation to go away as fast as ever. The longer it drags out, the more likely the NCAA finds violations.

Who knows if the NCAA will ever find any wrongdoing in the Cam Newton investigation, but I must admit, if I were Chizik, I would have wanted to know the status of the investigation too.

It is never too early to start revising your resume.

Just ask Jim Tressel.

Do you agree with Shawn? Post your comments below.

Shawn Muller has lived in the great city of Chicago for 7 years. He is a 2002 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and, in October of 2010, Shawn received his certificate in radio broadcasting. In his free time, Shawn enjoys spending time with his wife Melissa and 3 year old daughter Ava, catching any live sporting event, and traveling. Check out his radio show, Grab Some Bench with Muller and Bangser" every Thursday night at 8:30 P.M., at www.blogtalkradio.com/spmuller24. Read more of his blogs here.