First, Marvin Austin.

Now, many others may follow.

After North Carolina suspended its star defensive tackle indefinitely on Wednesday for violating unspecified team rules, we may begin to see the real fallout from the ongoing academic and agent-related investigations at the school.

According to a report on ESPN.com, among the Tar Heels players who may not travel to Atlanta for the season-opener against LSU are: Austin, defensive end Robert Quinn, linebackers Bruce Carter and Quan Sturdivant and cornerbacks Kendric Burney and Charles Brown. In addition, running backs Shaun Draughn and Ryan Houston, along with wide receiver Greg Little, may also be shelved after being involved in the NCAA probe.

The report states that the Tar Heels may be without up to 16 players on Saturday night, but that the school is in discussions with the NCAA to have “rolling suspensions” for the players, which would allow the team to spread the losses over multiple games.

The Tar Heels are hopeful that the decisions about what players need to miss the opener can be made by Friday morning. Team officials canceled all scheduled media availability with players, as they were scheduled to talk with reporters Wednesday afternoon.

Stay with the NFP as we count down until the start of the 2010 college football season on Thursday, Sept. 2.

Follow me on Twitter at Miller_Dave or send your college football questions to dave.miller@nationalfootballpost.com

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