... said that there was no basis for this article that was published previously.

Most fans likely realize exactly what this article was alluding to at this point. Fans and supporters of the Auburn athletic program have become jaded to being used as a defenseless target for the media.

Auburn has next to no local media support, and this fact makes them an easy target for sensationalist attacks. Writers of such stories have very little chance of being called out and scrutinized by a skeptical media like they would by targeting most programs.

This is also the case with this Bleacher Report - College Football