Breaking News: Tarheel Football

Rolling suspensions? Without 16 players for LSU? No RBs for LSU?

Dang, if true.

Joe Schad Twitter

 

Sad.

 

Man, the depth chart is working overtime!

 

awesome

http://www.statefansnation.com/inde...-unc-fan-hitler-finds-out-about-the-scandals/

 

While it is still advisable to be cautious about naming names, Joe Schad of ESPN is reporting a list of names of possible suspensions, and those names now include running backs Shaun Draughn and Ryan Houston – the first time those names have popped up on the radar. According to Schad, up to 16 players will be suspended for the game, including seven defensive starters plus Draughn and Houston. Schad’s track record on the details isn’t impeccable, for example he tweeted as recently as August 26th that he didn’t believe any players would be suspended.



I am not pointing fingers here, just noting that the reliability of information that has surfaced during the probes into players receiving impermissible benefits from agents and academic misconduct has been hit or miss from the beginning – no one has been batting a thousand during this saga.



Schad also mentioned that the NCAA and North Carolina are working toward “rolling suspension” sanctions that would hold out different players over the course of several games. In other words, not all players who receive a one or two game suspensions would be held out the same games. When the numbers of suspended players keeps growing, at some point it becomes difficult to even play a game if all players were suspended at one time.



This isn’t anything we wanted to hear, is it? So many suspended players that the suspensions would have to be staggered? At one point it seemed as though the worst possible sanction UNC might receive was perhaps a two-game suspension for Marvin Austin, and now we’re talking about having to stagger the punishments so UNC is capable of fielding a team?



Yesterday head coach Butch Davis said in an interview on ESPN that he had optimism that there could be resolution on suspensions sometime this week, but had to be prepared for several different scenarios. One thing he did make clear is that they aren’t playing anyone who would jeopardize UNC’s season. In other words, if the eligibility of a player is in question, he’s not going to play on Saturday. The last word is that North Carolina and the NCAA are still trying to reach some resolution before the team boards the plane tomorrow morning.



Despite all of the above, I’d caution UNC fans to refrain from buying into the worst case scenarios that are out there. First, there is the issue of the reliability of the reports and the less-than-perfect record of getting all the details correct that has characterized this situation from the beginning. Second, the way I read Davis ’s statements about the clarity he was hoping for during this week meant that, in his mind at least, that clarity would result in more players being available this Saturday, not fewer. Unless something changed after his 3:30 pm interview with ESPN, as of that moment I believe Davis was still hopeful that several players being looked at in the academic misconduct probe would be cleared to play by Saturday. Schad’s list might be based on players who would have to be held out if no clearance or word from the NCAA was forthcoming.



On the other had, the information that the NCAA and UNC were working out a “staggering” of suspensions is an indication that there has been a determination of which players are going to be suspended and for how many games they’ll be suspended. If true, North Carolina would already know what players can play Saturday – that doesn’t seem likely to me.



In other words, as late in the game as it is, it is still too early to be making assumptions about which players will be out, which ones will play, or what adjustments UNC will have to make based on the list of names Schad reports that UNC may be without this Saturday.



The only good news here is that it isn’t going to take more than 24 hours or so to find out – with certainty – which players are suiting up to play the LSU Tigers on Saturday night.

 

I was gonna be the 2nd "e".

 

a rolling suspension? what a crock of bullshit.

 

much funny

 

Yeah, that one kinda made me shake my head as well.