There's been a strong argument for a while that the Internet, and the corresponding rise in obsessive recruiting minutiae, will ultimately make the meat market cleaner, in a very Upton Sinclair sort of way: More eyeballs (and more educated eyeballs) on the process, most of them just waiting to pounce on any wayward move by a rival, can only be a disinfectant, right? In terms of catching violators red-handed, or at least claiming you have, it's certainly been a fertile offseason: Washington turned itself in for a pair of violations in January, right before a Memphis newspaper set its sights on Nick Saban's forays into the city. Steve Spurrier accused Lane Kiffin of a recruiting violation before Kiffin had even been formally introduced as Tennessee's coach, foreshadowing both Kiffin's infamous "cheater" jab at Urban Meyer and Lane's actual flouting of rule after petty rule. In addition to minor violations involving James Laruinaitis and an undisclosed player from Oklahoma, Sunday's giant report from the Columbus Dispatch uncovered a laundry list of obscure misdeeds at Ohio State, one of them (since reported and cleared by the NCAA) involving an undisclosed player that is probably Terrelle Pryor. This is what we know about, not including coaches going shirtless, getting crunk and riding around in limos or girls romancing each other.

As of last weekend, add Auburn to the list:

Auburn athletic officials spent Monday reviewing last week's Big Cat recruiting weekend to determine if any secondary rules violation may have occurred surrounding the traditional rolling of Toomer's Corner, an event attended by visiting high school football players.
[...]
Video of the Toomer's Corner event was posted on several Internet websites and it showed the high school players in attendance. ... Members of the media attended the event and interviewed players. Auburn is checking to see if that's a secondary violation. The NCAA rule on this matter reads: "A member institution shall not permit a media entity to be present during any recruiting contact made by an institution's coaching staff member. ...''

Another NCAA rule that says "a member institution shall not publicize (or arrange for publicity of) a prospective student-athlete's visit to the institution's campus.''

And ... the recruits loved it. By every account (and there are far more than any recruiting weekend really merits), "Big Cat" weekend was a smash with the kids, not least of all with the most sought-after kid there, Lache Seastrunk, the No. 2 overall player in the Class of 2010 according to Rivals, who had "the best experience [he'd] ever had" and seemingly had to stop himself from committing on the spot:

Seastrunk sure left Auburn gushing: "I can't reveal all the information, but you guys will be surprised when I commit [in early January]. And I think y'all might like where I choose," he told Auburnundercover.com. "This is the best ever," Seastrunk continued. "They just welcome you in. I feel the warmth of everyone. I love the environment here and I feel at home."

This year -- again, that we know of -- recruits have felt the same sort of warmth and love while running through smoke machines, participating in fake press conferences and having their names prematurely leaked to the media by coaches. None of which has stopped anyone. If Auburn knew going into the weekend that effectively staging a media event and introducing players on stage would cost it a few hours of extra paperwork and (maybe, at worst) a round of minimal public embarrassment in exchange for landing a commitment from a future star like Seastrunk, does anyone think the Tigers would have pulled in the reins? If Ohio State knew it could ply a recruit and his friends with game tickets, a discounted hotel and free food with no consequence whatsoever, as long as the recruit (or someone on his behalf) paid the money back long after his commitment, why wouldn't it cut that corner?

Why wouldn't anyone? Why would any school, anywhere, care about a "secondary violation" when the potential benefit is so many times greater than the cost?

An anonymous administrator interviewed Monday by ESPN's Bruce Feldman asks the same question:

"That is one of the biggest problems I have with the NCAA. All of the prospects enjoyed it, and they leave the campus having a great time. Auburn will report a secondary violation, which is nothing. In the end they will probably get some of those players. They should put in a rule that if you have multiple reported violations with a prospect you are not allowed to recruit him."

That may be too draconian -- or, considering you could still get your future quarterback a cut-rate room and steak dinner at the Hilton without committing multiple violations, ineffective. At least someone has an idea. But it may be that the nature of secondary violations, short of becoming too draconian, inherently relegates them to a sort of bureaucratic farce. At this rate, everyone will be regarding them along those lines in short order, anyway, if they can even be bothered to notice.