On April 3rd, Selena Roberts posted a story titled, “Auburn’s Tainted Title” on the website Roopstigo.com.  In it she alleged that sources within the Tiger football program — including ex-players — had revealed to her that academic fraud and bribery had taken place on the campus of Auburn University.

The national media flew into a frenzy and just one day later, ESPN released a story claiming that AU officials had also looked the other way regarding synthetic marijuana use on the Tigers’ BCS champion 2010 squad.  The two stories back-to-back left the school and its football program with two black eyes.  And as one of the most sanctioned schools in NCAA history, many media members and fans chose to believe those stories.  (Ironically, the NCAA has since found “major” violations at Oregon — the team Auburn played in the BCS Championship Game in January of 2011 — but the Ducks have avoided the spotlight that’s been pointed toward the Plains.)

Auburn officials immediately shot down the ESPN story with the help of phone records and several ex-players and their parents.  Now the school has released the findings of two reviews of the Roopstigo.com story conducted by Auburn Athletics and Auburn University Internal Auditing.  Their findings:

“There is no evidence academic fraud occurred.  The article alleges improper grade changes took place to make nine student-athletes eligible for the 2011 BCS National Championship Game.  That is false.  In fact, six players were academically ineligible for the BCS National Championship Game, and none of them made the trip to Arizona with the team.”

Among the other accusations rebuffed by AU:

1.  Former Auburn running back Mike Dyer was never even in danger of academic ineligibility, having passed 15 hours in the fall of 2010 with a GPA of 2.8.

2.  While former Auburn defensive back Mike McNeil did have a grade changed from an F to a C, the internal audit showed that all AU policies were followed and documented reasons for the change had been provided (excused absences from classes for medical reasons).

3.  McNeil — who has since been sentenced to three years in prison for his involvement in a robbery — claimed that former AU assistant and current Florida head coach Will Muschamp paid him cash during the 2007 season, but “Coach Muschamp immediately and publicly denied the allegations, as was widely reported throughout the media.”

4.  McNeil also claimed that he received $500 to be used to entertain then-prospect Dre Kirkpatrick — who later signed with Alabama — during his official on-campus visit to AU.  However, “Mr. Kirkpatrick never took an official visit to Auburn.”  Kirkpatrick has also said that no one spent money on him or game money to him during his unofficial visits to Auburn.

In summary, Auburn AD Jay Jacobs stated in today’s release that the facts demonstrate that “the article is clearly flawed.”  He added: “I want you to know that I will always act on the basis of facts.  I will continue to fight for Auburn University, and I will continue to defense this great institution against such attacks.”

Jacobs also took the time to back the “character and integrity” and compliance history of former coach Gene Chizik.

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1. SEC championship game matchup could be decided Saturday.

2. Should A.D. Mitch Barnhart be on the hot seat at Kentucky?

3. Does Joker Phillips think he deserves to be back: “That’s not for me to decide, but we’ve tried to do this thing the right way.”

4. Kentucky quarterback Patrick Towles: “I’m not going anywhere.”

5. “Barring a miracle roughly equal to a sea parting, Gene Chizik will not be employed at Auburn University in 2013. Nor should he be.”

6. Kevin Sumlin on the Aggies all-black uniforms Saturday: “Created an energy I hadn’t seen from this team in a while.”

7. Possible for Texas A&M and Texas to meet in the Cotton Bowl?

8. Alabama-LSU and a breakdown of the numbers.

9. How close was LSU to winning?  One first down away.

10. LSU’s Jeremy Hill only the 11th running back to eclipse 100 yards rushing  against Alabama since 2005.

11. Four turnovers in four plays in the Ole Miss-Georgia game.

12. Ole Miss plays Vanderbilt Saturday - whoever wins is going bowling.

13. Will Muschamp on Florida’s victory Saturday:  ”I’m a realist and I’m honest and I call it the way it is. When it stinks, it stinks.”

14. Another injury along Missouri’s offensive line.  Left tackle Justin Britt left in the first half.  ”They think it’s the ACL,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. “Real unfortunate.”

Gene Chizik is overseeing a team that’s just an overtime win over Louisiana-Monroe away from being 0-8 at the moment.  Last week, Auburn president Jay Gogue said a thorough examination of the football program would come at season’s end.  That was followed by a longtime Alabama-based columnist suggesting it might be time for Auburn to find a new coach and a new athletic director.  This week, oddsmaker Danny Sheridan piled on by telling an Alabama booster group that Auburn’s football program was again under NCAA investigation.

Amazingly, things are getting more negative still.

Now the aforementioned columnist is flat-out calling for heads and suggesting that a search for a new AD is already in motion.  And Chizik is having to “no comment” his way past questions regarding the NCAA.

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It’s been a terrible year at Auburn for head coach Gene Chizik.  But what he’s dealing with today probably puts the rest of his woes/issues in perspective.

Auburn University has confirmed that Rita Chizik — the 86-year-old mother of the coach — passed away this morning:

“The Chiziks appreciate the prayers and support that have been sent from the Auburn family.  We ask that everyone respect the family’s privacy during this difficult time.”

Our condolences go out to Chizik and his family today.  Sad story.

Gene Chizik and Gus Malzahn have made their decision — Barrett Trotter will be the man to replace Cam Newton as Auburn’s starting quarterback.  The junior beat out sophomore Clint Moseley and true freshman Kiehl Frazier.

Chizik released the following statement this afternoon:


“Barrett has worked extremely hard to earn the starting quarterback job at Auburn University.  I’m very proud of him for the leadership and hard work he has shown not only during camp, but also during his three years at Auburn.  Barrett has a great opportunity to represent and lead this football team moving forward.  Barrett understands the huge responsibility that comes with being the starting quarterback at Auburn and we are confident in his ability to lead this team.”


Chizik also had praise for Moseley and Frazier.

The Tigers open the season against Utah State.  Games versus Mississippi State, at Clemson, and against Florida Atlantic follow before an October stretch features South Carolina, Arkansas, Florida and LSU in consecutive weeks.

It is our belief that if Frazier picks up the offense, his dual-threat ability will lead to his insertion into the Tiger lineup sometime in October. 

Last week, Auburn University announced a new $3.5 million-per-year contract for head coach Gene Chizik.  As the details of the agreement have become public, it’s clear that the third-year coach has benefited on the security front as much as on the monetary front.

First, his buyout — if fired this year without cause — would be a whopping $10 million.  That buyout drops by $2.5 million per year through 2015.  That happens to be one of the highest buyouts in college sports.

On the flipside, if Chizik were to leave Auburn, he would owe the school $3.5 million.

Another clause was removed from Chizik’s previous contract and that move, too, benefits the coach.  AU no longer has the right to suspend Chizik’s pay if an SEC or NCAA investigation is opened into the Tiger program. 

Auburn is clearly giving Chizik the keys to the kingdom after last season’s national title run.  They’re all in.  Money, security, you name it, AU is providing it.  But as we noted last week, there is a Charlie Weis-ian danger here.

Chizik had an incredible season in 2010.  And if he’s the best coach in the country — as AD Jay Jacobs said last week — this contract will prove to be a smart move by Auburn.  If, however, Chizik’s success had more to do with Cam Newton than his own coaching and recruiting abilities, then the money AU is spending could come back to bite them.

There’s a danger in handing out a massive contract early in a coach’s tenure.  Ask the folks in South Bend, Indiana.

In keeping with our early-mornin’ Iron Bowl theme…

The BCS champion Auburn Tigers will be making the traditional winner’s trip to Washington, DC a week from today.

“On Friday, April 29, at 10:00 a.m. ET, President Obama will welcome Auburn University’s football team to the White House to honor the team’s 2010 BCS National Championship,” an Obama staffer said yesterday via email.

The first round of the NFL draft will be held next Thursday and it’s likely Cam Newton and Nick Fairley will be snapped up nice and early… meaning that they’ll likely be available to head to the White House on Friday if they choose to attend the ceremony.

Four Auburn football players have been arrested and charged with five counts of first degree robbery, according to the Auburn Police Department.

Those four players have been permanently dismissed from the team, according to Auburn.

The four players: safety Michael McNeil, wide receiver Antonio Goodwin, receiver Shaun Kitchens and tight end Dakota Mosley.

You can read the statement from the Auburn Police Department. All four players are charged with five counts of first degree robbery, one count of first degree burglary, and one count of third-degree theft of property.

According to Auburn police, five victims reported a theft of personal property early Friday morning. The victims told police that three black males were present with one holding a handgun. The four suspects were found with a pistol and the stolen property and then taken into custody, according to police.

Auburn coach Gene Chizik released the following statement:

“The players arrested in connection with this deeply troubling incident have been permanently dismissed from our football team. While we realize the legal process will run its course and these young men have a right for their case to be heard, playing for Auburn University is an honor and a privilege. It is not a right.

“We hold our student-athletes to a high standard of conduct on and off the field as representatives of Auburn University, and this kind of behavior is not tolerated.

“I am extremely disappointed an embarrassed by the actions of these individuals. I want to personally apologize to all of those who were impacted by this senseless act, including the victims, Auburn University and the Auburn family.”

Radio host Scott Moore spoke with The Huntsville Times yesterday and now he’s thrown out an accusation that Florida’s Urban Meyer was the initial whistleblower in L’affaire Newton.

“Urban made the call and The New York Times acted on it.”  That’s what Moore says NCAA investigators told his buddy, former Mississippi State quarterback John Bond.

“There’s some other stuff that will come out in the coming weeks that might set the record straight a little bit,” Moore told Mark McCarter of The Times.  “There’s some things I have not heard, some things that I’m supposed to hear that will tie all this together.”

Of course there is.

Amazingly, while Moore has gone on radio show after radio show quoting audio tapes that he has refused to play and making accusations against the Newtons, Auburn, Tennessee and now Urban Meyer, he feels that his reputation has been unfairly attacked.

“This is not a smear campaign against (Auburn), although one has certainly been waged against me this week.  That’s part of the territory, I reckon.”

I reckon so.  When you accuse people and schools of cheating without providing proof — while also starting a radio show and claiming that the tapes are “valuable” — people will naturally begin to ask questions about your character.

McCarter asked Moore why he’s doing what he’s doing.  “I’m not doing it for the radio show,” Moore said.  “I’m not out to destroy anybody.  I don’t want to see Auburn University destroyed.  I don’t have a vendetta against Auburn University.  I’m just reporting on a story that’s now mushroomed into one of the biggest stories in college football history.”

As The Times points out, Moore “was wearing warmup pants with the (Alabama) logo (on them) as he went on-air Wednesday night.”

In a final note, Moore has spent a week now making claims and allegations without playing the audiot tapes.  After getting ripped for his actions, he claimed this week that he’s not going to play the tapes until he can verify them.  Nevermind the fact that he’s been quoting them without verifying them.  So does Moore even have these tapes in his possession?

“I can’t confirm or deny that.”

What a shock.

Shock of shocks, the quacky act of Harvey Updyke — “Al from Dadeville” on “The Paul Finebaum Show” — has flushed out a few more crazies.  The family of the man who poisoned Auburn’s oak trees now claims to be receiving death threats from Tiger fans.  And I don’t doubt it for a second.

“We have children and grandchildren getting death threats from Auburn fans,” a man claiming to be Updyke’s son told The Mobile Press-Register.  “We’re having to pull teenagers, 13- and 14-year-old kids, out of school because people are threatening them.”

Who didn’t see this coming?  In fact, we said yesterday morning that this type of nonsense — from the other side of the rivalry — was to be expected.  Heck, everyone knew this was coming.

Finebaum told ESPN.com’s Mark Schlabach that he expects the UA-AU rivalry to become even more heated following Updyke’s attack on Toomer’s Corner.  “I almost hate to say what I should say — that perhaps I’m surprised we haven’t seen anything worse.  I think it will get worse.  I really do.”

Hey, nutjobs, here’s how you lose sympathy in a situation like this: You make death threats against innocent people.  Those oak trees were a symbol of Auburn University and AU fans have every right to be sad, mad and disgusted.  But they were trees.  Threatening to kill people is not a proportional response.  The best response, of course, would be to do nothing except buck up, move forward and show clowns like Updyke that they can’t get under your skin.

As for Updyke, he has a daughter named Crimson and a son named Bear.  His son — not sure if it was “Bear” or not –  said that his father has a pacemaker and suffers from kidney failure, high blood pressure and diabetes, and is on 21 different medications.  He also said his 62-year-old father is being treated like “a rapist or a murderer… he hasn’t been convicted yet.”

He hasn’t been convicted, but he did call a nationally syndicated radio show to say that he killed the trees.  And that he didn’t care if the act was illegal.  Good look to his court-appointed attorney beating that one.

In addition, WAAY-TV in Huntsville, Alabama reports that Updyke has been arrested twice before — in 1996 (criminal mischief) and in 2004 (theft).


UPDATE — Kevin Scarbinsky of The Birmingham News writes that “clean, old fashioned hate in this state has started to give way to a more dangerous level of contempt.”  The writer concludes: “Sadly, those trees may be beyond saving.  Let’s hope the rivalry itself isn’t too far gone.”