Let's give credit, where credit is due. This contribution, in which I pick 3 teams a week that are participating in 'must-win games', was suggested by AU Tiger and JJ Flash. To those of you who tried to flag those comments to prevent this little project from coming to fruition, my deepest and sincerest apologies (and why didn't you try harder? Nut up, people). Stats are obtained from the most magical database in the whole wide world, unless otherwise stated.

3. Clemson. And by Clemson, I really mean Dabo Swinney. Come on Dabo, put down the Madden football and come have a seat next to Mama. Let's get the obvious out the way first: you're not at Alabama anymore; you're at Clemson. At Clemson, you actually have to play the full 60 minutes and score more points than the other team to win. In the real world of college football, there are no moral victories and MNC's are earned, not pulled out of an orifice rewritten into history. Still with me, Baby? Y'all, Dabo is lookin' a little peaked, someone get this little Angel some smellin' salts.

Ok, last time y'all saw Virginia Tech, they struggled on offense. Their QB was a titch banged up and only threw for 125 yards. Incidentally, that was just 28 yards shy of the Clemson Tiger's total offense last week. And there it is, dare we say it, Big Al the elephant in the room. Dabo, baby, the 'young team' card works best when you've been struggling all season (see Florida and Tennessee and, hell, even Auburn). Your problem (one of them, anyway) is that you have the same team that overachieved to go 8-0 in the beginning followed by the expected 1-3 down the stretch (and that one win was by 4 points to WAKE FOREST!). Wake up, Dabs. If your seat is feeling warm, it's not because the athletic department installed nifty seat warmers to get you through the chilly days in the Carolina Highlands. It's because you have blown Clemson's shot, not only at an MNC run, but also a shot at legitimacy. Nice job. Which leads me to this little gem (source cbssportsline.com):

"This group will have to do a good job of listening to the right things because I'm sure there will be a ton of negativity out there, people telling them this and that," Swinney said, "... and you've got to listen to the right things and live in reality and not perception."

Let's make sure you're taking your own advice (assuming that you've got a metric to distinguish 'right things' from 'wrong things'). You don't have the luck of the Bear on your side anymore. Oh and, fyi, Virginia Tech is no longer struggling on offense.

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How many Tigers out there thought that Trent Richardson and that Smelley-guy ran over us for 500+ yards???? Hands up....Still waiting.......come one, really???!!!

If your hands are still up, you are wrong. Wrong. That's right: WRONG. The mighty Crimson Tide managed only 397 (albeit, effective) yards against our Auburn Tigers. As an observer I never saw our Tigers give up, despite what the 140 total yards of Offense might suggest. They kept go after IT. Yes, there were bad angles on Defense. First Downs?! (I'm sure those were Ted Roof's fault too. <sarcasm font implied>) Yes, there were plays that YOU in the stands or off of that couch could have made! But, They didn't and You didn't. So where does that leave us????...a winning season and Bowl eligible. Yes, the sky is totes Falling.

Tigers out there, who want continuity (oh, You know who you are), stand up; be heard: This IS NOT the time to be firing the Defensive Coordinator. A year removed from the National Championship and you want the DC removed. Are you F&^%ing mental! Really??? If CGC believes in the DC who are You to say otherwise? And I don't believe this BS of 'eyes on the sidelines'.... Unless you ARE CGC's inner-twitter, feed shut the *(&! up (and CGC doesn't have a legit twitter account, or I would be ALL over that, and if you're Mrs. CGC then Bully for you, baby!....).

I, for One, am proud to say that I think Ted Roof deserves another year. Nut Up, party people, and if you aren't up for growing a pair, at the very least, attempt to grow some Patience.

The Ok St Cowboys regrettably let this one go tonight, losing to Iowa St 37-31 in 2 overtimes. We have to give props to former Tiger Paul Rhoads (Congrats, Dude!). And our hearts go out to Oklahoma St who lost way more than a football game today.

Now many of us thought this loss would come against Oklahoma, BUT this rolls a lot of chaos into the perfected BCS poll.  Bama clearly is a favorite at this point. But since they can't go to an SEC Championship game, do they really deserve a spot in the BCS MNC? But imagine a Oregon/LSU rematch.....yikes, I would rather not. This is all assuming that LSU doesn't have a meltdown down the stretch. In my opinion, there is no good option at this point. If we want good football, then I think that we have to pull for the LSU/BAMA rematch...even if  it is repulsive on multiple levels. What do you guys think??

**Updated** When I wrote this post late late late Friday night (after I turned into a pumpkin and should have been in bed), I never anticipated both Oregon and Oklahoma falling to seemingly lesser opponents. But I have to say both USC (as painful as it is for me to admit this) and Baylor didn't just look good in their wins, they looked great! For those of you who think that tonight's BCS Countdown show needs a snazzy theme song, I think I've got your huckleberry...unless you were expecting a link to Lee Corso's infamous on-air FCC questionable moment (even though it would be most apt).

***Update..now with a Poll!

More information is coming to light about what happened behind the scenes last year regarding the Camtroversy.

My twitter feed has been lighting up with the New War Eagle Extra's (Joel Erickson) tidbits, such as Rogers apparently contacted John Black, assistant coach at UNC about Cam. Rogers also claimed that if Miss St didn't pay, then Cam was likely to go to UT or Oklahoma.

Charles Goldberg has a breaking story, here.

I almost didn't want to bring up this post, because I am tired of talking about it. And frankly there will always be a contingent that will feel a certain way about this issue, no matter how much hard evidence is released to the contrary. But for those of us that thrive on facts, we're about to get a bunch of it.....for better or worse.

**New content: Joel Erickson's article with links to actual documents.**

**Even newer content with links to NCAA/Cam Newton 'packet'**

I saw the sad news break on Twitter....from a AUGoldmine RT of @IzzyGould: Alabama confirms offensive lineman Aaron Douglas found dead | al.com http://t.co/N4qqOB1

There is a tribute post up on RBR. Many of us here are banned from commenting on RBR, but might want to offer some sentiments to our Rivals.

My heart goes out to the Douglas family, to his friends and teammates. My stomach went into knots when I read the news.

Nick Saban had immensely classy words about his formal player (crediting Izzy Gould's article linked above)

It is a tragedy anytime you lose someone close to you and even more so when it is a member of your family," Alabama coach Nick Saban said in a statement. "Aaron was a part of our family and always will be a part of our family at Alabama. He was an outstanding young man and we were excited about what he had accomplished as a player and a person in the short time he was with us.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to his parents, David and Karla, who are two of the best people you will ever meet and the love they had for their son was something very special. As a father, there is nothing we can say to describe the loss of a son. Our Alabama family has sustained a tragic loss and the Alabama family is grieving that loss. We will be here to support Aaron's family in any way we can."

These sentiments were expressed over at RBR and I will echo them here, please use this space to offer condolences and not speculation....This young man was taken from his family at a very early age.

I just got a link to this article off of Twitter. It appears that someone has purposefully, with malicious intent poisoned, our Oaks. This is outrageous!! I am deeply saddened by this news. Some of my fondest memories have been under those trees. Who could someone do this?? Why would someone hate so much to do this?? I am red-in-the-face mad as hell about this-so much so that I am having a hell of a time writing this post. Just before this came up, I saw Thayer Evans' latest piece of journalist excellence. Go ahead, pile on haters. I would argue though that the destruction of our Oaks is far worse than whatever Idiot Evans has to write about us.

Note to the Haters: While this was highly destructive and hurtful, if your main goal was to destroy the Spirit or Determination of the Auburn Family, YOU FAILED!  Why? Because you can not destroy something that you fundamentally don't understand. An egregious act of this nature implicitly implies that YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND! You never will, and for that I feel sorry for you.

Maybe some of Auburn's fine horticulture grads can weigh in on what can be done to save the oaks (if anything). This is a sad day for Auburn. Hopefully, this can be a place to vent, so we can all go out there and show some class.

Philip Marshall has this covered over on Auburn Undercover. This caps off an amazing season for our Heisman Trophy winner.

Archie Manning had this to say about Cam:

“I’m not sure if we’ve ever seen a player put up numbers like Cam Newton did this year,” said Archie Manning. “It’s amazing for a guy to account for over 50 touchdowns in a career, let alone one season, and to also lead his team to the SEC championship and the BCS championship. It’s no surprise that our voting panel selected Cam as this year’s winner.

What more can you say about 1473 yards rushing and 2874 yards passing; 30 passing TD's, 20 rushing TD's, oh yeah, he caught a TD pass too??

I, for one, can't wait to see that electric smile on Sundays!

At this point, it is likely just a formality.  Tomorrow at 11:00 am at his high school in Mobile, our very own Nick Fairley will announce his NFL aspirations. The article link is here. In the same article it discusses Jeff Grimes being interviewed at Texas. Who else is sick and tired of Auburn being a farm for Texas coaches??? Well it is really a compliment, I guess. Good luck to all Auburn Tigers that have BIG decisions coming up.

This just in from Charles Goldberg:

Nothing has changed in Cam Newton's status, and Auburn plans to start the  quarterback against Georgia on Saturday, the Auburn Bureau of al.com newspapers learned Friday.

Newton practiced with the first team Thursday night. Newton's status stands despite stories Thursday that alleged his father sought money from Mississippi State for his son to play there. Even "no comments'' about Newton's status from the Auburn athletic department Friday created a wave of speculation about Newton's status.

Newton will play barring any last-minute decision to the contrary. 

Auburn, 10-0 and No. 2 in the BCS, will win the SEC West if its snaps its four-game losing streak against Georgia.

Say what you will, but this is the only real news that we should be focusing on heading into tomorrow.......

And as the updates keep piling in, here is a little poll to get the pulse of the Auburn Family! Hang in there everyone; it's going to be a bumpy ride! War Eagle! Beat Georgia!

Some of us have believed in this Auburn team since the beginning of the season. Some of us are just catching our breathes and catching on. Regardless, I hope that we are all on the same page about who this Auburn team is. It is not so much that we are winners--it will never be a clean game this season. We will still struggle against fumbles, missed tackles, blown coverages and lack of blocking.

This season will be definitive, because despite all of these faults, THE AUBURN TIGERS ARE FIGHTERS. It is that characteristic in a nutshell that is making us winners. Gus's offense is brilliant, and he is smart enough to know that he can't run a strict spread at Auburn. It doesn't matter who is coaching, it is in Auburn's blood to be a power running team.

Gus will always be a relevant coach because no matter what, he will always adapt his strategy to what is available and/or relevant--and that is what makes it work. So now, we are a power running team with the spread. Brilliant! Our defense may bend, but they made some plays tonight that gave the offense the go ahead to get ahead. And Zac Etheridge..never thought that I would see him hit again, much less that hard after the almost career-ending injury, which he sustained last season.

Some of you existing skeptics, if you can't get behind that kind of heart, that kind of want, that kind of FIGHT, then honestly, why are you still watching Auburn football?? Coach Chizik brought the fun back; Cam brought the fight back; and us, the fans, bring the desire back. War Damn Eagle. Let's crush ULM!

To say that the past couple of weeks have been disturbing on the Plains is like saying -2 degrees outside is chilly. It is a similar understatement that Jacobs made with the Chizik hire. While some have come out in support of Chizik, many of us are having a hard time swallowing what that means. Suddenly, Auburn has been thrown under a very unflattering spotlight tainted with images of racism and bigotry. Is this sort of attention warranted? Maybe, maybe not.

Those whose purpose it is to ensure Auburn's integrity are misusing their power. Misusing their power to a point that taints all that is wonderful and true about Auburn and Auburn tradition. As fans your hands are seemingly tied. Support the Coach; support the decision or you are not a real Auburn fan. As a non-alumni, I get that not-a-real-fan card thrown in my face a good bit. It doesn't hold water,and is frankly unbecoming. The truth is that Jacobs will never come out and say, "Yeah that Turner guy looked great on paper, but dude, did you notice? He's black!". We also will never know (for sure) if Lowder and Ranes were behind closed doors throwing money at the situation to make an 'undesireable' hire go away. I have read many comments on this subject that frankly disturb the hell out of me.

Why wasn't it a big deal when Alabama hired Shula over Croom? What have y'all been smokin'?? It was a huge deal! I was in West Virginia at the time, and yes it was in the news up there, and not in a flattering way. Check out this link from an old New York Times article College Football; Legends' Shadows Don't Scare Alabama's Shula

This is not just about Auburn, people! It is about a hiring system that is broken, and Jacobs let US look like the idiots with a problem.

Why isn't it a big deal that Syracuse passed on Turner Gill? Seriously? The Orangemen hired a guy that actually knows how to win games. The first year (2006) that Doug Marrone was OC with the Saints, they completely turned the team around and made it the NFC Championship Game. Additionally, Marrone has ties to the NFL, those future Dwight Freeney's out there might really dig that. Additionally, at the time of this hire, Gill was still in the mix at Auburn. Auburn vs. Syracuse, which is the better job? If you don't know the answer, are you a real Auburn fan?

Why is the Chizik hire such a big deal? Umm, because Auburn is a high profile job. Because Tubs brought us to the forefront of the SEC. Because the BOT and puppet Jacobs mishandled Tubs' tenure. At the end of the search, there seemed to be two people. One person (8-5) who knew how to win conference games and a conference title as a head coach, and another person (2-10) who couldn't win a single conference game. I thought winning Conference games were important, but what do I know? I am just a girl. The hiring of Chizik was shocking. If he was the clear choice, why wait so long to hire him? Especially in comparison to who he was up against, a proven winner as a head coach. The only tangilbe difference, however shallow it may be, is the race of the two candidates. Sorry, sportsfans, there it is. The big cyclone in the room.

My point? You can put your head in the sand. Maybe you just want to move on. But if there is bigotry campus that high up in the chain of command, can any of us stand by and do nothing? If you love Auburn, can you really stand by and let it happen? I am not advocating boycotting Chizik or the Auburn football team.  None of us will know if Chizik is the right man for the job until we square off September 5th against LaTech. When I stated in a comment, that the Jays could never take my Auburn spirit away, I meant it. They can only destroy Auburn and what Auburn means to each of us if we let them.  Stand behind Chizik and those Auburn Tigers that we love. But you don't have to blindly support the BOT and the Jays to be a real fan. If you don't like what is going on then pick up a pen and start writing!!! "Say you want a revolution; we all want to change the world".  War Eagle!