One more Te'o Thing To Keep In Mind Tonight...

Manti Te'o may not be answering questions to the media.

He may first have to go before his University.

If, as a football player, he committed such acts of dishonesty as would be implied if he were involved, he would be subject to expulsion from the University, if deemed serious enough.

THEN, you have the real possibility that the University would be forced to declare Te'o retroactively ineligible.

Guess what?  At that point, 2012 Notre Dame Football Season Vacated and Nullified.

LATE EDIT:  An explanation is probably in order here.

Under the Notre Dame General Standards of Conduct:

"The following actions and behaviors are clearly inconsistent with the University’s expectations for membership in this community. Depending upon the circumstances, violations of these behavioral standards will call into question a student’s continued full participation in the University community:"

Te'o, if he were involved, could be charged with violations of the following two General Standards:

7. Dishonesty, forgery or taking advantage of another.

and

12. Actions which seemingly affect only the individual(s) involved but which may have a
      negative or disruptive impact on the University community and/or concern a student’s
      personal and academic growth.

And they would apply here, because, under Notre Dame's Applicability of Student Life Policies:

"The University reserves the right to address off­campus misconduct or violations of law. Judgments about these matters will depend on the facts of an individual case. The following factors are among those that will be considered:

• whether the conduct occurred at an event sponsored by the University
• whether the student involved was acting as a representative of the University
• whether the conduct has a negative impact on the University community or interferes with the pursuit of Notre Dame’s mission
• whether the conduct has a negative impact on the local community."

This would fall under the category of offcampus misconduct, and Te'o's status on the football team would almost certainly qualify under the last three of the four bullet points.

Then, if "convicted" and removed from the University (which is one of a number of punishments which could be considered), then the University would have to determine if Te'o revoked his status as a student in good standing at the point of his "conviction", or with the commencement of the actions which brought this about.

If the latter, THAT is where ineligibility comes into play.

And if Te'o is not involved in this and Notre Dame's current story proves true, then none of this is in play at all.