Auburn v Kentucky

A man representing Auburn quarterback Cameron Newton asked Mississippi St. for $200,000 in return for Newton's signature on a letter of intent following a recruitment visit, according to a report from ESPN.com.

The meat and potatoes:

Former Mississippi State quarterback John Bond told ESPN.com that a teammate of Bond's at Mississippi State in the early 1980s contacted him soon after Newton's official visit to Mississippi State during the Ole Miss game in December, and said he was representing Newton. "He said it would take some cash to get Cam," Bond said. "I called our athletic director, Greg Byrne, and he took it from there. That was pretty much it." Multiple sources told ESPN.com that Mississippi State called the SEC office with Bond's information shortly after he brought it to the attention of the school.

Sources told ESPN.com that the former teammate is Kenny Rogers, who played at Mississippi State from 1982-85. Rogers operates a Chicago-based company called Elite Football Preparation, which holds camps in Chicago, Alabama and Mississippi. A Lexis search for that business lists Kenneth Rogers as the contact and his title as "agent." A Birmingham News story from 2008 said Elite Football Preparation "matches high school athletes with college programs."

Bond said the former teammate told him other schools had already offered $200,000, but that since Newton really liked Mississippi State and already had a relationship with head coach Dan Mullen dating to when both were at Florida, Mississippi State could get him for $180,000.

Cameron's father, Cecil, a pastor from Newnan, Ga., denies any wrongdoing.

"If Rogers tried to solicit money from Mississippi State, he did it on his own, without our knowledge," he said.

The NCAA has already begun to look into the issue though, according to Cecil Newton. They asked him for financial statements last month.

If Newton is suspended, it could have serious implications on his Heisman candidacy as well as No. 2 Auburn's title hopes.

We'll keep you posted as this story continues.

To reach editor Patrick Crawley, click here. Follow him on Twitter, @BasketballFiend.