....something ofa precedence of the NCAA declaring someone eligible, then coming back and declaring them ineligible. See the Derrick Rose situation at Memphis, where he was actually cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse and declared eligible to play. After the season was over, the NCAA ruled that he cheated on his ACT and declared him ineligible and vacated all of the victories from that year (when they went to the NCAA finals).
The circumstances, or reasons for potential ineligibility, aren't the same as the Newton case, but declaring him immediately eligible right now certainly does not prevent the NCAA from coming back and throwing the book at Auburn later. A good portion of this is damage control because it will be extremely embarrassing for the NCAA and the SEC to have this come to a head before the BCS championship. Once we get to the offseason, all bets are off.
I've seen conspiracy theorists claim that if Auburn were 8-4, none of this would've come out, and that's ********. If Auburn were 8-4, Cam Newton wouldn't be playing football right now, in my opinion.