There just seems like there’s a new revelation every day. Now it’s Kenny Rogers saying that Cecil Newton was asking him for money, “between 100-180,000,” for Cam to go to Miss State. So much has been going on it’s got my head spinning. With the FBI now involved in the scandal, it looks bad for Cecil and Cam Newton. My assumption is that the FBI wanted to know if there was a pay for services illegality or maybe even a money laundering scheme with Cecil Newton’s church.
What does this mean for Auburn? That’s to be determined. Auburn has not been implicated in this scandal yet. There has been no connection to Cam Newton being offered money to play at Auburn, but the revelations are going to keep on coming in the next week.

A lot of pundits are saying there is no solid evidence against the Newtons and that most of the sources are anonymous. Well that’s not totally the case any more as John Bond, the former Miss. State quarterback, and Rogers have now come out against Cecil Newton saying he solicited them for money. So there is more than strong circumstantial evidence now. There are actual statements from named sources. I don’t agree that there is a “he said, he said,” going on. Now it looks like there is concrete evidence that Cecil Newton wanted money for his son to play. The question is: Did Cam Newton know about it? From his past transgressions at Florida (cheating three times, signing his name to a paper and then turning one in from the internet), one would think he is complicit.

But Auburn will play Newton. What do they have to lose? They don’t know what’s going to happen and he’s not been charged with anything, so you might as well play out the season and see how well you can do. Sure takes a lot of the luster out of what was a great season for Auburn. How will this affect them on the field? They could just go out forget about it and keep on rolling. Or the players could be distracted and not play very well. We’ll see tomorrow. The players and Cam Newton in particular will try to Bill Clinton-it and play football. But they have two pretty tough games coming up. We’ll see how it shakes out. I don’t see how the NCAA is going to be able to close this case soon, but now that the FBI is involved they may get faster closure than one would expect. This is a total mess and puts a damper on what has been a thrilling college football season. I feel bad for Auburn fans, but the rules are the rules and if you break them in a blatant manner and are found guilty, you have to pay the price.

On to the picks (Last week 7-3, Overall 97-30.)

Georgia @ Auburn 2:30, CBS: This game got a lot more interesting in the past week with the Cam Newton revelations. Georgia is fired up to ruin Auburn’s perfect season. Auburn is probably extremely mad over all the allegations against their quarterback. Can the Auburn secondary slow down Aaron Murray to A.J. Green? That’ll be difficult. The Georgia running game is a factor also. Ealey and King are good backs if they don’t fumble. How will Cam Newton respond to the allegations and the incessant talk about this issue? Can he compartmentalize like some athletes are able to do and have done in the past. Georgia has beaten Auburn the past four years. The Georgia and Auburn defenses are shaky, so it’s what team can come up with more stops and who takes care of the ball the best. Georgia gets it done and pulls off the upset.

Georgia 27, Auburn 24

Mississippi State @ Alabama 6:15, ESPN 2: No one would have thought this before the season or even four or five weeks ago, but this should be a pretty competitive game. Will Alabama still be reeling from the LSU game and burnt out on the season? Will Chris Relf, Vic Ballard and the State offense be able to have their way with a vulnerable defense? Mississippi State is playing good football under Dan Mullen, but I don’t think they have enough horses to win this contest. Greg McElroy and company do enough to get by and get ready to finish the season with an outside chance to win the West if Auburn loses to Georgia and them and LSU loses.

Alabama 28, Mississippi State 17

Ole Miss @ Tennessee, 11 a.m., CBS: UT desperately needs a win and so does Ole Miss. UT has shown signs of being competitive this year. They win at home this time.

Tennessee 35, Ole Miss 31

South Carolina @ Florida: I would love to see Steve Spurrier and South Carolina get it done here. I’m tired of seeing the Gators in the SEC championship game. But they’re playing a lot better football now and I think the fact they’re in Gainesville puts them over the top. What’s happened to South Carolina’s defense? Arkansas schooled them.

Florida 31, South Carolina 24

Other games:

LSU 42, Louisiana-Monroe 3

Northwestern 28, Iowa 24

Miami (Fl) 31, Georgia Tech 17

Ohio State 28, Penn State 21

Florida State 35, Clemson 34

(Cam Newton and Gene Chizik in happier times talking with “The Wolf.” of CBS)

Sammy Arthur: