What a difference a week makes. No sooner do I get it out of my mouth that the Big 12 is on life-support and the unlikeliness of FSU leaving the ACC for that conference, the SEC and the Big 12 go and blow up college football again. With the announcement of the bowl game contract between the two conferences beginning in 2014, the landscape of CFB has changed dramatically once again and we'll likely see more dominoes start to fall very quickly now. For that reason, the SEC must now strike the coup de grace on southern expansion from other conferences to prevent further shuffling of the cards.

With FSU already opening back up the Big 12 option, all eyes will not only be on them but on the rest of their football power conference mates to see who jumps first. Even money says FSU, with Clemson and Virginia Tech to place and show. With the new BCS field seemingly narrowing down to the SEC, PAC-12, Big Ten and Big 12, you don't need a Tobacco Road degree to see even numbers and no room for a fifth-wheel conference. The ACC is a few moves away from being relegated to the same scrap heap that the Big East still finds itself in.

The writing is on the wall for the current four conferences locked into bowl agreements with each other to go mega, probably to at least 16 teams each, and it wouldn't surprise me that soon their champions would almost be guaranteed a spot in the upcoming four-team playoff, the plus-one. No idea how exactly conference champions would be determined with 16 teams--we can't yet figure out the schedule for 14. But the will of college football is being spoken.

And because the ACC, fresh from a new TV contract negotiation that still pales to other conferences, may soon be parted out, it probably behooves the SEC to go ahead and pick first and roll at least two--but maybe more--into the conference now to solidify our stance in the new CFB world. Feelers should immediately be extended to not just the football schools, but the basketball creme as well. We simply cannot afford to wait on this issue because it's getting ready to explode.

While conventional wisdom may say for the SEC to be preemptive and extend invitations to the likes of Georgia Tech, Clemson, FSU, Miami, Virginia Tech, Virginia, and North Carolina, old rivalries and long memories may say not so fast. As Jay mentioned yesterday, current SEC members may have problems with letting their current in-state rivals, now on the outside looking in, to waltz freely into their hard-won territory--Georgia and Georgia Tech, Florida and Miami and FSU, and South Carolina and Clemson.

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Oh no. Not again. Florida State might just be the next major FBS program to pitch a temper tantrum about their current conference financial arrangement and threaten to blow up college football once more. And these aren't just rumors this time. University president Eric Barron has written a memo about the pros and cons of the Seminoles abandoning the Atlantic Coast for The Big 12.

But I thought the Big 12 was no more? Close--and don't feel bad for thinking that. Reports of their premature demise have been widely exaggerated and even more widely believed. The conference that got whittled down to eight schools before picking up TCU, West Virginia, and a team to be named later, is still vertical and possibly looking to expand again. Gentlemen, fire your engines, bonfires, and couches.

FSU's teacher-college mamas didn't raise no dummies, however. Looks like the bottom line of the memo lays the odds of looking west virtually zilch as the greatest downside is possibly losing the rivalry with Miami. Oooh, snub to the Gators. Never mind about protecting SEC rivalries, I see.

Oh, and I guess he made mention about distance, academics, a buy-out, and if you read in between the lines, something about entering into a contract of indentured servitude with Texas for an unspecified interval of time.

My best guess is that this is just posturing at being unhappy about the new financial package of the conference and rumors of drawing a little red ink in the athletic department. It could also be an attempt to shore up the ACC universe to orbit a little more around Tallahassee. Besides, the path to a BCS title is probably a little easier through the ACC than through even a slimmed-down Big 12. Just think, even though the last team from your conference to play in a BCS title game will have been fourteen years ago, at least it was YOU.

Even with virtually no chance of FSU defecting now, there are some who think that the Big 12 ought to open up all four barrels of the carburetor and attempt to pick up every wayward or lost team in an attempt to regain divisional status and contend for BCS titles again.

With a fantasy slate of proposals to Notre Dame, BYU, FSU, Miami, Clemson, and Louisville, no one could ever accuse any Big 12 plan including that lineup as being modest, but there's one thing we all need to take into consideration before we go blowing up college football again:

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With presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in attendance Sunday night at the Hawks-Celtics game in Boston, TNT basketball analyst Charles Barkley opined about Romney's political chances in November, presumably against the Democrats and Barkley himself.

"Mitt Romney, we're going to beat you like a drum in November."

At first thought, you think this is something he might be saying in the studio while they're in commercial, but no, he said it during the broadcast. He immediately went on to disparage a colorfully dressed Celtic fan, seen in this clip, using the forbidden F-word to describe gays, so there's probably an equal opportunity for left and right to be offended here.

Never mind he said it in a sports telecast, where most people at the very least tune in to get away from things like politics, but he said it during a NBA game, which probably triple-doubles the aforementioned statement.

Not sure how TBS management will handle this one. Charles Barkley is paid to be, well, Charles Barkley, which loosely defined is an astute loose canon, candid, charming, and funny, but sometimes borderline buffoonish. The art, Chuck, is keeping it within the confines of the game, and leaving politics (and everything else non-sports) out. Or at least I'd be willing to bet.

The question begging to be answered is why Auburn people still care so much about what Charles Barkley says and does? Why do we feel compelled to either bask in his celebrity or cringe in his mistakes?

Who made Chuck Barkley the unofficial spokeman for Auburn?

Basically, we did.

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I was out of town in Orlando this past weekend but still managed to catch more draft coverage than anticipated. I forgot that it takes up the better part of a whole weekend, the pure pageant and spectacle it has become. Combine the hype of the Superbowl, the anticipation of the Academy Awards, and the length of the Huntington Kennel Club Show and you have an idea of the product branding monster the NFL has created. A quarter of ESPN's annual payroll must go to their announcers' overtime and subsequent therapy.

For the 6th year in a row, the NFL Draft can also be called the SEC Showcase and National Signing Day Companion, as more players from the conference were drafted, barley edging out the Big 10. In fairness, I'm not sure if the guy compiling that stat knows there are twelve teams in that conference now. I'm sure they'll look it up. Fourteen commemorative DVD sets of the draft are already in the mail to start showing recruits.

Alabama was the crown jewel of the draft, with eight players drafted, which should free up some room under their salary cap a bit. With four players taken in the first round, they tie their own SEC record from last year, which tied LSU's in 2007, which tied Auburn's in the 2005 draft. All those in favor of renaming the year of the draft to that of the last season the college players played, a la the national championship trophy, say 'aye'.

Auburn's Brandon Mosley was the only player for us drafted, but others have already signed free agency contracts. Not the best of times for the Tigers, but at least we're still tied atop the all-time leaderboard for most #1 NFL draft picks with USC and Notre Dame with five each. I knew about four of those. Ken Rice?

Is it just me or are the hugs that NFL commish Roger Goodell receives from early draft picks starting to get uncomfortably long? Do you think his wife has said anything? Maybe there should be a timer or some bumper music that starts playing. Shave some signing bonus off. Bromance is fine, and Goodell is a convenient target, but I'd be hugging the guy who signs my first check.

Speaking of checks, how many of you secretly think about how many of these guys will be broke within a few years? With three quarters of NFL players bankrupt or in serious financial trouble within two years of separating from the league, it's the ugly underside of draft day. Like many lottery winners who have their lives destroyed, these guys are in the same boat. Enjoy the ride.

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Ever so cliche' to discuss, every game in a college football season is a must-win. With the most meaningful regular season in all of sports, even the dropping of one key game can turn your season south in a hurry--unless you're Alabama last year, naturally, but they're working on that as we speak. And in the fiercest division in the fiercest conference in the nation, your chief rivals are never down for long. For Auburn, the road to Atlanta always involves the teams from Tuscaloosa, Athens, and Baton Rouge at a minimum. But they're not the only ones.

There are other games on the schedule that can have an equally important effect on your season that may not jump out at first. Think about our five losses last year. One extra win with any of those and it could have galvanized that team going into Amen Corner. It may have chain reacted into an additional win. Games such as these also influence recruiting and the conference pecking order for the next season. Sometimes there is more at stake than a simple win. Streaks and dominance must be extended or ended. As we mentioned here after the trip to Athens last year, Auburn now has a Georgia problem. They're one of the big three. Would it be better or worse if we found ourselves with a Mississippi State or Arkansas problem?

So with a slate of nine of the rest of our regular season games to choose from, I have compiled a list of the ones to have the most importance. See where we agree:

1) Clemson 9/1/12. Atlanta: I take breaking 50-something year old winning streaks as hard as the next guy. I'm tired of having seen so many of them go down the last few years--Vandy in 2008 and Kentucky in 2009. But the prospects of breaking a streak to a OOC opponent like Clemson and allowing them to start one of their own is simply unbearable. I know we've given them plenty of chances, with this year being the 4th match up since the 2007 Chick fil A bowl. I know I'd have chosen quite a few other ACC opponents in our first Chick fil A Kickoff game, but let's roll with it. There will be more orange in the Georgia Dome than even since the last time a big time college game was played in there.

2) Texas A&M 10/27/12 Auburn: Speaking of streaks, prior to the latest SEC teams joining, it could be said that Auburn had an all-time losing record to only two conference opponents, Alabama and LSU. Now that number has doubled. Granted, it's not by much, 0-2 all-time to the Aggies and 0-1 to Mizzou, but I can't think of a better welcome for our new West divisional mates than a loss in their first trip to Jordan-Hare. A&M starts out conference games at home, and Auburn is it's second road outing within the SEC after going to Oxford. I'll definitely be down on the Plains for this one. I'm looking forward to saying 'Howdy' when greeting Aggie fans. I hope they bring 'em in droves. Texas A&M the program is probably very similar to Auburn's. Let's get it started.

3) Arkansas 10/6/12 Auburn: While this game is a strategic stop if the Razorbacks are to compete for the west crown, a victory may hold the same implications for us and decide who has fallen into the bottom half of the conference for the time being. Couple that with revenge for a blow-out loss last year and stomping on Bobby Petrino's grave and this match up could easily top the list. We're 2-4 against the Hogs since 2006 and there's no debate, Auburn definitely has a porcine problem.

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Imagine being sick and not even knowing it. A malignancy festers inside you, infecting everything within proximity, but you still mostly function normally. The only signs of trouble are assorted symptoms that come and go, but nothing is definite or tell-tale. Eventually the CAT scan reveals how deep the tumor goes and everything is clear. Last week's robbery trial of Antonio Goodwin, punctuated by former teammate Michael Dyer's testimony, was an x-ray view into the cancer growing inside the Auburn Tigers football team that went unnoticed by most for almost a year. Only now that the growth has been cut out can the healing really begin.

Dyer, in his statements, exposed himself as a deviant for all the Auburn family to see. His reasons for being so candid are probably self-serving--to prevent any formal charges being filed for providing someone threatening to commit a crime with a weapon, and to also show cooperation with authorities, something that would go a long way in redeeming his character once he takes the field at Arkansas State. What he had to say about himself wasn't pretty. It was shocking to most, and something foreign to fans who knew him only for his little-boy smile and break-away runs.

As it turns out, the arrest of four players last March for armed robbery was but a symptom that spurned an even larger illness--a player who thought himself above the rules. Although such serious charges weren't something Auburn fans were accustomed to, we thought the issue had been put behind us with the expulsion of the culprits. We were wrong.

Little did we realize that a star player had played a large role in the formation of this gang and was leading a double life as a thug wannabe. Star football players don't do drugs or carry guns, we tell ourselves. We can't understand why the stardom isn't enough for them. It's unimaginable they would want to risk everything they have for some petty gangster action. Many of these kids come from backgrounds like that. Sometimes it doesn't get filtered out. The truth is that most of us really don't care as long as they win on Saturdays. Trouble is something that happens at other schools, like at Florida under Urban Meyer. Better guess again.

We'll never hear out of Gene Chizik (or Gus Malzahn) exactly when they learned the extent of Dyer's involvement. I'm guessing it came out during the investigation into the robbery and hopefully only after the regular season and before the bowl game, like the time line we've already been presented. I'm not even remotely suggesting this idea, but if Chizik played Dyer while knowing what he had done, he could have easily been canned. At the very least he could have lost respect and confidence from the Auburn nation. And it's possible that Dyer could have been a hot potato that quickly got passed to the next guy.

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Bobby Petrino has been fired at Arkansas. Props to Fayetteville for doing what is probably the right thing but a very unpopular and difficult decision to make.

As far as my post earlier about him surviving. Please disregard.

So who can they hire at this late hour? Is the ink dry on Gus Malzahn's contract?

Other than a consistent stream of CFB playoff info filtering in that we've discussed a'plenty on here, it's been a pretty quiet three months so far with most of the spring games yet to be played. Interestingly enough, three articles concerning SEC coaches have surfaced this week to provide a little fodder for sports fans. Often, stories concern the program at large rather than the coach specifically, but this time it's the head man making the news instead of trying to control it.

While it's always been well known that head coaches at any football factory are Teflon coated, last year's surprise firings of Jim Tressel and Joe Paterno showed many that chinks in the armor can be found. And while neither of those coaches were at SEC schools, it's also entirely possible that it's business as usual in the south land about the extremes of the sport that fan bases must tolerate to keep winning. Witness:

Last Friday, KoolBell brought up the curious case of Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino, he of Jetgate fame, and his placement on administrative leave after the AD opened an investigation into his motorcycle accident from ten days ago. With details of the crash coming in from his assigned state trooper and fans even throwing a pro-Petrino rally yesterday, the Razorback nation certainly appears to be divided, something the administration desperately wants. That way it looks like they did some soul-searching over the subject before they finally just slap him on the wrist.

While definitely being what many may refer to as a SOB, Petrino remains a damn fine football coach who landed in Fayetteville in of all places. He proceeded to turn the program into a SEC West and national contender, which come to think of it, are exactly the same thing. In the end, Petrino will have lied to his boss about a sex scandal. A top 5 finish last year, a probable top 10 start this season, and virtually no chance of hitting the coaching lottery again will be all the justification any Hog fans needs. Bobby, may I suggest to you next time taking a private jet?

Settling down is so hard to do. Take it from a confirmed bachelor. So it's with a heavy heart that I announce to you that it looks like Nick Saban's days of howling at the moon are done. I've known it for a while but some of you Auburn fans still were holding out hope. With the national title in January, invitations from NFL teams and even a few college ones were extended. But Nick's wandering eye appears to be no more.

"I had my chances and I've had chances since. I think you have to know yourself well enough to know that if I'm happy doing what I'm doing now, why do I need something else? Before as a coach, even when I was at LSU, I went all those years and it was always work hard to get the next opportunity."

The painful truth for a control freak is that you could never have only your fingers pulling the strings in the pros. When Alabama threw Nick the keys to the Capstone, it came with it the promise of total control, as the Tide nation also threw off most of the vestiges of family dysfunction that lingered since the days of Bear Bryant. It was the perfect storm. The controller not only gets to control the program, but the players, too. It comes under the auspices of coaching, and teaching, but with Saban it's all the same. Controlling crybaby millionaires in the NFL was a bit harder so we're not going to do that anymore.

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A few weeks ago, I declared that the SEC must absolutely play a nine-game conference schedule to preserve deep-seeded historic rivalries in a new 14-team conference world. As it turns out, I may have only been thinking inside the box. After a month of reading lots of opposition to that extra game, I was almost starting to see both sides. Still undaunted in my efforts to preserve the hallowed traditions of games like Auburn-Georgia, Alabama-Tennessee, and LSU-Florida, new inspiration came in the form of a Fanpost last week.

Regular commenter FlyAuburn13 came up with a dandy proposal for a new conference format that basically dropped the divisions and simply assigned permanent rivals to each team's desire. While that idea was great on paper, there still remained the little catch of the NCAA rule that allowed for divisional play in the first place, Catch Rule 17.9.5.2:

Annual Exemptions. [FBS/FCS] The maximum number of football contests shall exclude the following:

(c) Twelve-Member Conference Championship Game. [FBS/FCS] A conference championship game between division champions of a member conference of 12 or more institutions that is divided into two divisions (of six or more institutions each), each of which conducts round-robin, regular-season competition among the members of that division;

Yes, you must have at least twelve teams, (sorry Big 12) you have to split into divisions, and the teams in those divisions must play each other. And it's that notion of 'playing each other' that really complicates things and prevents a football conference commune, but we can Nick Saban that guideline a little later.

What many don't realize is that conferences can petition the NCAA for an exception to 17.9.5.2, which surfaced with some conferences wanting conference championship games a few years ago with only 10 teams. The only catch with the petition is that it takes a while--kinda like getting tax money back from the government in fiscal year 2012. You must request by July 15 for any change to be made for the following season. So say that Mike Slive wanted to ask Mother, May I from the NCAA this summer, it wouldn't go into effect until the 2013 season, which last I looked, was when we were really gonna need it.

In keeping with FlyAuburn13's proposal of dropping divisions altogether, the SEC could ask the NCAA for permission to drop the round-robin portion of 17.9.5.2, which would mean that although a team is in a particular division, they don't necessarily have to play every other team in that division every year. Although counter-intuitive at first, how liberating is that notion? Obviously, the first casualty of the division race is head-to-head competition, but after Alabama's improbable run last year, that's not that big an impediment, is it?

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The thread I did last night concerning the female LSU kicker has been removed by SB Nation, not by TET. For those politically correct types who voiced your complaints, you have been rewarded. I'm not a Rush Limbaugh level scalp, but a scalp nonetheless. For those of you who enjoy satire that occasionally pushes the edge, you just got chop-blocked.

This satirical piece was identified as such in the first line. For those of you that have frequented this site for longer than the last 16 hours, you should know that I occasionally delve into such. The very essence of a blog is to push the envelope with content and to create an atmosphere where the reader can also engage in dialogue. That's good because otherwise it might all turn to mush. To those who voiced opposition within that thread, I respect that. It's the reason that comment section is there.

But might I suggest that everyone take a deep breath and relax. I'm proud of the content that this site produces and I'm even prouder of how we police this site and keep the discourse civilized. What I have a problem with is censorship. You never have to agree with anyone else's opinion on this blog, but I hate when that option is removed from the equation. I was perfectly content to take any flack within these confines without interference from corporate, but that is no longer the case, so we will let it be.

Thanks for reading.

Greg

You'd never know there was a recession in this country looking solely at the revenues that college football produces. Better yet, look at the prices that it commands in a variety or areas, from TV contracts to ticket prices to coaching contracts. Dollar amounts are always being thrown around in this sport. Sometimes costs are direct, sometimes they're very indirect and intangible. Here are some random numbers that have surfaced recently, some factual, some estimated, and some that ought to be.

$24.8 Million: The combined exit duties to be split evenly by Texas A&M and Missouri to their old Head Master, the Big 12. It's reminiscent of the old joke about the reason why divorce is so expensive is because it's worth it. Nebraska and Colorado broke free for $9 and $6 million but only because they had a note from their parents. Just curious, but what did the new guys have to pay to get into the SEC? Even better: How much in additional TV revenue--the almighty denominator--will the Missouri and Texas markets eventually bring in? I always miss that amount.

$20 Million: The parting gift West Virginia and the Big 12 is ponying up to the Big East for the Mountaineers to be one half of the two scrubs for the departing Aggies and Tigers. Doesn't anyone else think that if the Big 12 doubled their half of this contribution and offered it to the malcontents during exit negotiations (and say it came from Texas), the SEC wouldn't be staring down a nine-game conference schedule next year? Ears fans translation: 44 million old dorm room couches.

$50 Million: The approximate market price for Vanderbilt's slot in the SEC, rising to the demand of more than a few teams, if such a slot was openly available, marketable and amortizable--pending regulatory approval, of course. --Less the future value of value-added TV revenue. Damn. How could I forget that? $12 Million: Sure-fire E-ticket admission fee that would readily be paid by new members, if Slive had the stones to charge it. Breakdown: A cool mil each to the existing schools for lousing up their schedules ad infinitum.

$100 Million: Total estimated costs of all parties for playing musical conferences with the Big 12, courtesy of Texas and their Longhorn Television Network spawn. Face it, Longhorns. You blew up college football. You should change your name to the Coyotes, because four teams just gnawed off their arms to get out from under your embrace. We in the SEC even manage to live with Alabama and peacefully coexist (excepting for the odd deforestation and sexual assaults, mind you.) A hundert mil? That could keep Mack employed up into his 90s.

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Last week, eleven conference commissioners and the Notre Dame AD met in Dallas basking in the glitz and glory of trying to determine a future playoff scenario for major college football. Nearly all interviewed stressed the fact that this would be a gradual process of determination, but none have confessed how quickly this subject moved to the forefront from previous years. With nothing on TV except SEC national champion reruns, the rest of CFB's major powers, led by the Big 10++, have made this subject public enemy issue #1.

It's a daunting task. With 130+ years of precedent and history,120 FBS teams involved, and conferences waxing and waning with new members almost weekly, there remains a lot of people to piss off. Make no mistake: most everyone will be made unhappy by whatever initial playoff scenario gets melded together with the BCS and the latest offering from their minions, the school presidents and conference commissioners. Naturally, money should be at the forefront. And TV ratings. Did I mention money?

With all the millions of suggestions we will soon hear about what a playoff should be, I think an easier way to go about shaping a playoff is to first eliminate what it should not be. Voila! The process of elimination. And if that makes sense to you, you'll now know how I passed most multiple-choice exams while in college. Without further adieu, let's draw the straws and see who's got the shortest ones:

No more Notre Dame as wild card, conference unto itself: Re-read the first sentence above: "...eleven conference commissioners and the Notre Dame AD met in Dallas...". Why are we still kowtowing to the Irish like they own college football? They've enjoyed their special relationship with the BCS for over five years now and during that time they've done jack squat--both on the field and in the polls--not to mention in the public relations department.

While the winds of change whirl across the sport, the Golden Domers have made no contribution to improving the sport or their lot in it. Simply relying on special treatment is an anachronism that should disappear but just won't, like back-dated national championships or Lou Holtz's lisp.

Join a conference and compete nationally through that or take your chances in the polls, Notre Dame. With no boost from winning a conference championship to lift you in the polls and only three service academies to schedule, you may get to live off a BCSbowl appearance morsel every 15 years or so but I'm confident the national titles will be long gone like the Gipper and above flat-line TV ratings.

No basketball brackets, please: Forget 64, 32, 16 or 8. It's 4. F O U R. That's all we're gonna get. For a long time. Maybe in a decade or two it may grow to eight, but that's all it would ever be in our lifetime. Here's where my purism kicks in. The most meaningful regular season in all of sports must be preserved, otherwise we have basketball.
Or pro football. Or something else that historians will never be able to trace back to the roots of the game.

Quit dreaming. The logistics of football and the length of the bowl season dictate this limited team necessity even more than the tradition does. Four. That's the number. Let's concentrate on getting the best formula for arriving at that number and calling them something other than the Final Four.

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Everybody gather 'round!

Hidden during the fervor of National Signing Day this year was an under curring sentiment from the NCAA and it's members that the newly announced Multi-Year Scholarships presented as an option to institutions might be forcefully overturned by the consent of the governed; i.e. the member institutions. You see, last year the NCAA was pressured by the Justice Department to have it's members at least offer multiple year schollies to student athletes lest they possibly be investigated for anti-trust practices. The Fed seemed to think that one year scholarships may prevent some schools from having a chance at recruiting the best players. The schools? You'd think they'd be looking out for the students, but I'll need to check out the law review on that one.

Some of the member institutions, perhaps resenting the NCAA's swooping mandate, or maybe just really liking one-year deals, decided to see if they could get an over-ride of the rule and last week, that measure was voted on and the over-ride was barely defeated. Auburn voted against the over-ride, Alabama failed to vote at all. And so it goes.

So as it stands, institutions may now offer multi-year scholarships instead of the traditional one-year renewable kind. It's an option. So what? While some may champion this as a win for the student athletes and fairness everywhere, I fail to see where it will change things in a practical sense.

Don't think these players will be entrenched like ticks on a hound dog. I don't care if these kids are on the eight-year college plan, if they screw up, the hidden language in these contracts will be sufficient to force their pre-mature ouster. That way you won't have student-athletes who try to coast through and not earn their way. We can save the debate of why high profile athletes are even getting the option of a multi-year plan. "What about me", cry academic scholarship students who have no such luxury. Yea, let's save that for another day.

So the NCAA now has something to make themselves feel better about the plight of the big-time student athlete, but spare me the magnanimity. If they really wanted to put teeth in it they'd enforce these schollies to the bitter end if kids make their grades and stay out of trouble, with no risk of getting put out if they just didn't measure up on the field or get hurt. I think we all know many will still fall by the wayside in spite of them toeing the straight and narrow. Such are the risks of big-time college football, anyway.

Perhaps the bigger question is why some universities, big and small, didn't want the option of multi-year offers to student athletes. Things were pretty good with the universal one-year trials, but now if you want to stick to that recently outdated model, other schools might be able to compete with your recruiting machines simply by offering a kid more of a guarantee--a 4-year ride. In these parts, that quickly boils down to wondering what will be the next modus operandi employed by Auburn and Alabama.

Raise your hand if you think that Saban and company will try and stick with the one-year scholarships for the interim. Yea, my hand is raised too, and while that seems like the natural inclination for him, it may not end up being the case. The debate between all the coaches and the administrations in the SEC will rage in the next few months and the academics may win out. Appearances are everything, especially for front office guys, but what do they matter for the true clinicians who work behind the scenes to get around them?

Over in west Alabama, Nick Saban could be thinking that if he sticks with his old anachronistic ways, opposing SEC and regional coaches may drive in his coffin nails with it. And for the namesake of the Saban Rules, overcoming most recruiting obstacles is simply second nature, and this new NCAA mandate that shines light onto certain unsavory facets of the recruiting biz is just another open-field tackle to be broken. Saint Nick just may very well embrace the new multi-year options.

Yea, I'm curious how it'll all shake out in the conference in the next few months. It could be a case of follow the leader with all the SEC coaches. Maybe more academically renowned programs like Vanderbilt will definitively offer multiple year scholarships for all athletes and let the other schools do what they will, or maybe each university will simply do best for itself in spite of the ramifications of nationally ranked NSD classes.

All I know is that we have a new wrinkle in recruiting, albeit a temporary one. Like the old joke says, "Now that we are all familiar with the new rules, does anyone have any suggestions for getting around them?" I can hear the conference room now.

The 800-lb gorilla in the conference since the one-off 2012 SEC football schedule was released is the looming 2013 schedule. Many wonder how might the conference deal with two more teams without upsetting the delicate balance of 20 years of divisional rivalry precedent mixed with preserving some of the sport's most traditional match ups. With existing and new members yet to sit down and carve out a brave, new 14-team world, many questions lingering about the future of the SEC came to a head last week with Georgia AD Greg McGarrity's comments about the possible ending of the South's Oldest Rivalry on an annual basis. Nothing like a little blasphemy to get the blogs churning.

Most of us fans in the region are still wondering why the conference leaders ever wanted to expand in the first place, with all the success we've enjoyed of late. You can't convince us it was preventative in nature. Nothing short of welding two BCS conferences together could have competed with the SEC for the forseeable future. If you're like me, you think money was the ultimate goal, because apparently, the preservation of the conference's tradition and heritage may have been the first casualties of expansion.

With this topic likely to dominate the SEC spring meetings, it would behoove fans and administrations alike to speak with one voice regarding the topic, or the SEC applecart could be upset for generations. Nothing against Missouri or Texas A&M, but you guys made the choice to jump. Mind us long standing members for a moment while we figure this out and don't think it rude if we close the door while we talk.

There is no other solution to this mess than to play a nine-game conference schedule. You play your six division mates once, one permanent cross divisional rival and two rotators. N I N E games. Yea, that leaves three out-of-conference games left, leaving precious little room for cupcakes. The sport may even contract by a regular season game eventually if we get a playoff, leaving even less room, especially for schools who have long-standing OOC rivals, like Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky, and the new kids--if they wish to make amends and pick up series with Texas and Kansas again.

Who cares? This is what the powers that be wanted--the SEC playing more SEC. Now live with it. Most fans don't like the cupcake games anyway, and a future playoff scenario might mandate additional OOC BCS games, so the SEC will definitely be in compliance. It only makes running the table and going undefeated that much harder, but what does that matter when the SEC conference champ is a virtual lock for the BCS title game anyway? Don't fret, SEC. Remember, this is what you wanted. Think of all the TV dollars: $$$$$$$$

What are the alternatives to going to a nine-game schedule? Sticking with eight would mean six divisional games and two rotators, because one rotator would mean waiting eleven years to play the other teams and you just can't legitimately call yourself a conference if that's the way it's going to be,

With eight games you can't split into three divisions, because that's not allowed and I'm pretty sure the math doesn't work out with whole numbers. Besides, it would produce one hell of a complicated conference title scenario.

You can't have any more teams jumping divisions because there is balance and new found rivalry to maintain. The time for that was long ago. Yes, Auburn, I'm talking to YOU. I'm not sure I'd want to forgo Alabama even to pick back up Tennessee and Florida and to preserve Georgia. Choices like that are impossible.

You couldn't have rotating divisions, with two teams switching sides every few years. Or could you? Could the loss of Auburn-Georgia, Alabama-Tennessee and LSU-Florida on an annual basis be mitigated by having them at least play four-six times a decade? Working out that round-robin would be crazy, and even crazier might be some team with east and west division champs banners flying in their stadium.

No, there's only one solution to the mess we find ourselves currently in, and that's to go to a nine-game conference schedule. I can't even believe any rational person would suggest sticking at eight and losing out on all these traditional rivalries. You broke it, SEC. Now you fix it.

Just a few quick thoughts while I get my head together coming out of one chaotic but still satisfying recruiting season:

If conventional wisdom on the recruiting habits of Nick Saban are true, why can't anyone have success being the anti-Saban? It doesn't seem that hard: four-year deals if you make grades and stay out of trouble versus one-year contracts, no history of fraudulent medical dismissals, immediate scholly instead of a gray shirt, followed by a red shirt, and almost instant playing time? Aren't people supposed to trust a man's word or is the audience not really that tuned in?

I checked. Total scholarships allowed by FBS institutuions is still 85 max and 25 new signees a year. How convuluted is our process if that's so hard to remember?

Trooper Taylor being named to the list of best recruiters three straight years and five times in his career is no surprise to many of us. All you have to do is pay attention to the way many fanbases deride him as a clown and a cheerleader to know they're getting their clocks cleaned by him and his towel.

New Auburn recruit Cassanova McKinzy could probably ink an endorsement deal from Chick-fil-A right now if such things were allowed. After blowing up the message boards last week with college town fast-food preferences supposedly helping to sway his decision, I say right now we nickname him the Chick-fil-A kidand see how much mileage we can get from it. Maybe he'll get some playing time in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game and I'll get a big "I told you so" moment.

West Virginia is backing out of a game next year with FSU because of their conference switch-up and the Noles are threatening to sue. I wonder if they'll give them the 'Auburn' treatment after the Bowden-less Tigers attempted to negotiate what was ostensibly a mutual decision back in 2000 but got vilified by the FSU administration and Bobby Bowden in particular, threatening to have the whole ACC agree not to play us in any sport. Yea, we're still waiting on that bowl match-up, Seminoles.

Auburn fan favorite writer Mark Schlabach has his way-to-early preseason top 25 list and the Tigers are no where to be found. Can't say I necessarily disagree with him at this point before spring practice, but there's no reason why we can't keep the hate going.

From the fish out of water department, I thought Boise playing in the Big East and West Virginia playing in the Big 12 would be the biggest shockers this coming season, but it looks like Boise won't get their shot until 2013, as originally planned. I'll get dollars to donuts that it will be years being the Broncos win the Big East to automatically qualify and by that time there will be no guarantees that conference will still be on AQ status.Purgatory Conference, anyone? For all the malcontents trying to find a permanent home, we offer a temporary one that acknowledges that fact more so than joining un-related teams clear across the country.

I'll catch you next week.

MEMO: Go ahead and have your graphics department add you to the wheel. It's official now.

Lost at the end of last year with the Chick fil A Bowl and New Year's approaching was any meaningful discussion on this blog of the duct-taped and stapled conference schedule the SEC office cranked out seemingly with the hope that the holiday weekend might keep down the fracas. They were right. Among SEC fans, the week following that announcement was the lead-up into the all SEC BCS title game and there has been nary a peep since. Maybe it's time to take a closer look.

Ten to one odds that absolutely no onegave a moment's thought to what the addition of two more teams to the conference would do to existing rivalries that go back decades before they engraved their invitations--and never mind the cluster we'd have if we only managed to snag one more team and not two. Slive and company in Birmingham have come up with a solution that's temporary at best and even more distressful, have not tipped their hand to what the long-term changes will be. A likely reason is because they haven't gotten that far yet.

The slate for 2012 is still at eight conference games, with teams paring off a rotator to accommodate Mizzou and A&M. (a nice run-down of the SEC schedule for each team shown here, courtesy of Outkick the Coverage) Many believe the SEC will be forced to add a conference game, going to nine, but we may not know that until after this upcoming season is underway or completed. Both new teams do play all their division mates, which will take up six games with seven teams a side now.. Auburn gets lucky by hosting the Aggies where previously we were on the road in Gainesville.

While few believe that intra-division foes should rotate (think mythical divisional title), even fewer want an end to long-standing cross-divisonal rivalries. For that reason, one permanent cross-rival must remain for everyone, most notably Auburn-Georgia, Tennessee-Alabama, and LSU-Florida. That's pretty much it. No other cross-divisional games carry as much weight, and looking at the teams, none carry as much clout. Those are the top six teams in the conference--and the reason why we'll never have the opposing division match-ups being permanently rotating.

If we maintain an 8-game conference schedule and there's six divisional games and one permanent from the other side, that would leave only one rotator--and a tumble-weed inducing ELEVEN year gap in between playing that team, assuming a home and home in successive years like we have now. That makes Major League Baseball inter-league play look consistent and recalls the days when certain SEC teams were virtual strangers (Auburn fans think LSU, Ole Miss, Vandy and Kentucky before the 1992 realignment.)

So it's virtually certain that the SEC adopts a nine game schedule, with two rotators, which with an additional two teams in residency would increase the gap between match ups from the four years we have now to five. That's still not comfortable enough for some, hence a persistent undercurrent of support for three rotators. But do they have to stop there? Is ten games out of the question, especially considering pressure if other conferences up the ante with added teams or more games?

Heck, add any more teams to the SEC and we'll have to have our own playoff just to determine the conference champ. Forget about adding additional games to the schedule for all BCS teams as twelve is plenty and may even have to be pared down from that one day for a future playoff. With nine conference games, that only leaves three out of conference contests and not much room for cupcakes (thankfully).

And what about the oft-rumored conspiracy for Auburn to steal to the other division in a trade for the new guy or a Vandy or Kentucky to be named later? I doubt it was even discussed in the negotiations for adding the new teams. While I'll always believe that we should have been in the East following the 1992 realignment, I think that we've grown fond of our new arrangement, and more importantly, the SEC has found balance, with the top six historic teams split evenly in the divisions so far. Perhaps in a few decades the conference hierarchy will be rewritten, and adjustments will have to be made, but I think we're good for right now.

Can you drive into College Station or is it only accessible by train?

Accused tree poisoner Harvey Updyke has turned down a plea agreement that would have resulted in a 13-year prison sentence AND required him to never attend an Alabama sporting event for the rest of his life, reports ESPN. The trial is scheduled to begin in Lee county on March 5th.

Updyke is charged with four felony charges and two misdemeanors. The charges are two felony counts of first-degree criminal mischief, two felony counts for unlawful damage, vandalism or theft of property from a farm animal or crop facility and two misdemeanor counts of desecrating a venerated object. He is facing up to 10 years for each felony conviction and 1 year and a $2000 fine for the lesser charges. He has pleaded not guilty by reasons of mental defect or disease.

Is a 13 year sentence appropriate in this case? If so, is the part about not ever attending an university of Alabama sporting event really fair? I could see having him never set foot in Auburn again, but the latter seems a little over-reaching.

Charles Barkley has already weighed in on the subject: "That's too much," Barkley said. "Is he an idiot? Of course, he's an idiot. You can't let him off for free. You give him a month in jail and make him donate money to Auburn. You can't put the guy in prison for 13 years. That's crazy."

The charges could be worse. He could have teabagged someone.

How are you doing on those new year's resolutions you made? If you're smart, you don't announce any of them on Facebook or other social media. It makes failure a little bit more palatable. Now that we're in the first full week with no college football it seems as good a time as any to take an introspective glance into our sport and think about what we could do to improve it.

Make no mistake. College football is booming, but there's always room to tweak this grand old game for the better. If CFB was able to make resolutions like a person does, here's a few I think it should seriously consider for the new year--some workable and others a flight of fancy, but a guy can dream, can't he?

PLUS ONE There's no better time to discuss the first incarnation of a playoff than following the SEC's recent domination of the BCS CG. If there's one thing that's got even the curmudgeonly PAC 12 and Big 10 commissioners willing to consider the idea, it was having Alabama and LSU play for all the marbles. Officials are soon to sit down and discuss the topic and have assured us that nothing will be off the table.

A plus one is simply a four-team playoff: One plays four, two plays three and they meet in one more game for the title. You better be prepared to take it or leave it because we're not getting more than four teams initially for years. It'll take at least two more years for us to get this far. Naturally, there would have to be some fine tuning to get the format in place: establish clear-cut conference champs as contenders (you too, Notre Dame--time to sign up somewhere), remove at least one game from the regular season, shorten the interval between the end of the season and the major bowls and decide whether or not to utilize any of the big bowls in the semi-finals--plus about a dozen other things I'm forgetting right now.

CAPS ON CONFERENCE NUMBERS I really wish they would have inserted this one in after last season when we got the first whiffs of CFB blowing up. Now it's too late for the SEC's expansion plans but let's set a reasonable cap at 14-16 teams. Any more than that and you run the practical risk of having so many conference games that you can't play anybody else. Also, we still don't want a power-grab or bidding war to erupt that compromises existing regional conferences and morphs into inter-continental Pangaea-like athletic blobs in a vain attempt at securing power and market share. I'm copyrighting that term, BTW.

BOWL GAME CURTAILMENT Guys, there's got to be a limit on this. It's growing out of control--fed by an apparent abundance of TV money that make Fannie and Freddie largess pale by comparison. Some of these bowls, acting as actual or quasi-charities, are starting to turn corrupt and sully the reputation of the sport--NOT TO MENTION all the empty seats you see in the stadiums. It's diluting our product and it cheapens teams that really are bowl-deserving.

Maybe it's this everybody wins, yay mentality that we have in our society that instill the notion that virtually all teams that can fog a mirror and teeter on the edge of .500 get to go to a bowl game. Maybe it's that every po-dunk backwater in a mild clime wants their municipality-fiefdom to have the glitter of a game that nobody goes to since there's absolutely NO apparent barriers to entry.

Most of the teams that go to these loser bowls don't really want to spend the money--they net a loss many times, but it's the spectre of turning it down that compels them. If they didn't have these bowls, it would solve a lot of problems and actually go a long way to restoring the honor and spectacle of being bowl eligible and bound. If they don't want to listen to me then do at least this: give unsold tickets away to charities so kids can go. Fill up the stadiums. Empty seats and Mondays always get me down.

Issue licenses for the bowls for three years that they must bid on. Then check their stats: they must receive minimum local attendance and participant patronage. They must also achieve certain TV ratings. If they don't, then revoke the license and let someone else try. Nobody else want to try? Then show bowling tournaments or CBB--they probably get the same ratings as the loser bowls.

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Barrett Trotter has decided to forgo his senior season at Auburn, keep his bachelor's degree and continue pursuit on his Master's.

"My four years at Auburn has been a great experience and I'm thankful for the opportunities that I've had, however, I have decided to forgo my senior season," Trotter said in a statement. "I'm truly blessed to have been a part of winning seasons and championships during my time at Auburn."

Said Gene Chizik: "Barrett is a great young man who ended his career in a fitting way by helping lead our team to victory in the Chick-fil-A Bowl," Chizik said. "We are very appreciative to Barrett for his contributions to Auburn, both on and off the field, and wish him nothing but the best."

I must admit, it takes a lot of fortitude to call it a day like this. While Trotter's stock has skyrocketed again since the Chick fil A bowl, the competition for next year at QB will be tremendous. We're certainly going to miss his senior leadership.

I'm sure all Auburn fans will always hold Trotter in high regard for his four years with the program. Good luck, Barrett. And don't ever let em give you sh*t about that beard.

Trotter's Signature win? Utah State, Miss State, South Carolina, Florida or Virginia? Discuss.

Not much to say for an Auburn fan following this game except to extend congratulations to Alabama for winning the 2011 BCS national championship, their second in three years and ninth consensus title--if you follow modern-day protocols, For some reason, most T-shirts you may see don't, hence a little confusion. Hey, that's still more than anyone else in the game and that's saying something.

This victory by the Tide in no way diminishes what our program needs to continue doing in the upcoming seasons. They measure you by the company you keep and our biggest rival happens to be the biggest, baddest team in college football history to date. You don't have to like it, but you can't help but respect it. Congrats to the state as a whole as we continue to demonstrate that no other takes this game as serious and tends to dominate it lately as does Sweet Home Alabama.

Some random thoughts...

You can't have a split title, even if this win ultimately didn't turn out to be as decisive until the bitter end. Alabama won the game and the crown. It's sour grapes otherwise. You can disagree with the format of the BCS but you can't fault Alabama. The BCS only wants #1 and #2, regardless of how they arrived there. Tonight's tandem were the chosen participants according the rules in place and accepted by all. Yes, they're already talking about fine-tuning the system significantly. Maybe something about not winning your conference and still being in the game--my biggest concern--should be addressed. But it won't affect anything now. They used to crown national champs before the bowl games were played back in the old days. This one is in the books forever.

Expect some major blow-back for having a rerun of a pretty boring game that was pretty boring itself until the end. The rest of the nation doesn't appreciate defense like we do in the SEC, so they will be resentful of what they just saw. There was plenty of resentment coming in already. Had high-flying Oregon or Oklahoma State made it in to take on either team, they would have been shut down un-mercifully. Leave the score-fests to the glamor bowls. SEC ball is a defensive chess match.

They'll be major flack for Les Miles in the coming days, but all will be forgiven by NSD. Les looked a little flat in his game plan, yes, but Alabama just looked very committed in theirs. Either Saban was getting his third BCS title tonight or LSU was. Looks like Saban won out. I hate to say it, but maybe the rest of the league's only shot is if Nick decides to tackle the challenges of the NFL again, but I don't see that happening. Looks like Auburn has got to go back to the drawing board. Defense would be a good start. The hiring of BVG today is a step in that direction.

I thought Gene Chizik did an excellent job in his commentary gig for ESPN. He certainly excelled over his terse counterpart, Oregon's Chip Kelly. Maybe there might be a good career move in it for Gene one day when he's done on the Plains?

I'm glad I no longer reside in the state of Alabama to fall prey to the rival blood-letting your Alabama friends may enjoy tomorrow morning in the office at your expense. Although they didn't beat us, don't underestimate their desire to use it against us. Stand tall, take the high road and congratulate them. Bite your lip if you have to.

I'm tired. Going to bed now. War Eagle and good night, all!

Auburnundercover.com and ESPN are announcing that an anonymous source has said that Auburn has released Michael Dyer from his scholarship. Where he ends up is anybody's guess, but I know which school I'd bet on. More to come with this developing story.

Had my War Eagle and TET moment with LSU Jonno Saturday as he messaged me in the afternoon about an extra ticket, so I met him and his crew down at the Georgia Dome for the Chick fil A bowl. Just imagine, I was planning on watching the game at home and rocking in the new year with Dick Clark's corpse on ABC. You have to give Jonno credit, sporting the Auburn shirt and LSU visor. I think he got more comments and high fives than would Cam Newton with a fistful of free tickets. I don't think there's any doubt who Auburn fans are pulling for next Monday. Anyway, a good time was had by all. That got me thinking, maybe this spring game we might try to have a TET meet-up like we last did in 2009. Might be fun for all to congregate, swap stories and at the very least, have some wagers settled in full.

Although the game was announced on Thursday as being another sell-out, attendance was a little over 72,000, which is about 4000 shy of capacity. I must hand it to Virginia fans as they came out in force. Naturally it was a little hard to tell visually looking around the stadium since everyone had on the same colors. You had to use your ears. A lot of Cavalier fans sported bow ties or powdered wigs, the latter a reference to Thomas Jefferson, the founder of UVa. Talking with a few of their fans before the game, they said they had last played in the Dome in 1998, against Georgia, and that it was just like a Bulldog home game. I told them to get used to it and that Saturday night would be no different.

I've been to the Chicken Bowl a few times when we weren't playing, so you'd figure I'd remember this little tidbit, but they serve alcohol in the stadium when it's not a regular SEC game. I mean, I guess that's the rule because I distinctly remember no sales during the SEC CG last year. The Georgia Dome area is a tough place to tailgate, with the CNN Center food court being about the only place with restaurants, and basically only two of those being places that serve drinks. The tailgaters per square foot ratio in there might be what you'd find in downtown Hong Kong, assuming they had college football there and tailgates, of course. Factor into the crowd the folks down there for the Zac Brown Band concert next door at Phillips Arena and it was wall to wall.

I was pleased the crowd was rocking going into the dome and inside it. With two Jumbotrons in the house, everyone gets to see what's going on. It was cool to see Bo Jackson down with the team on the sidelines before kickoff. He even went out with the captains for the coin toss. If I'm Virginia's coaches, I think I'd object. I wouldn't want my players being star struck like that. Regardless, it's good to see Bo being so visible with the team the last two years. We've caught him on the sidelines a few times over the years and more than a few just last year, but with his first return to the Heisman ceremony in 25 years for Cam's award, he definitely has a bigger presence with the program now than he's ever had. Thanks, Bo. (And shouldn't we have had him at least talk to Russell Wilson last year?)

Saturday was a perfect storm of greatness coming together for this team for one last hurrah. I'm very pleased to see the 2011 team go out as winners in their final game. I've been harsh on this team since Amen Corner and like some of you secretly did, I thought they were finished as a cohesive unit. I'm glad I was wrong. The new year is a time for redemption, and I was so happy for Barrett Trotter and his redemption in the eyes of his teammates, the coaches and the fans. I certainly hope he'll be back with us next year.

So the countdown for the new year has ended, Tiger fans. Everyone give a kiss to each other just as we kiss 2011 and a few players and coaches goodbye. Wish them the best on their future endeavors. While this particular squad of Tiger players rides off into the sunset, the Auburn program is still here. We've got coaches to hire and finicky 17 and 18-year old recruits to sign. Football is only over for about a month until national signing day. And only three and a half months until the spring game. We'll see you there!

As it turned out, the rumors of us dropping the Florida road game next year for Texas A&M at home are true. Here's how it'll shape out for next season instead:

Auburn's 2012 SEC schedule:

Sept. 8: at Mississippi State

Sept. 22: LSU

Oct. 6: ARKANSAS

Oct. 13: at Ole Miss

Oct. 20: at Vanderbilt

Oct. 27: TEXAS A&M

Nov. 10: GEORGIA

Nov. 24: at Alabama

As far as the next few years, I'm sure it'll be one big goat rodeo. Anyone know the method behind their madness?

Looks like the nation will still be on holiday until a week from today. I went into the office yesterday but there was no one at work at any of the places I could see. With Christmas and New Year's falling on a Sunday and with only a week in between them, never under-estimate most Americans desire to meld them together into a whole fortnight of celebration, cheer and football. However, our Auburn Tigers went to work yesterday, practicing at the Georgia Dome in preparation for Saturday's Chick fil A Bowl against Virginia.

Watching the empty seats in the Liberty Bowl Independence Bowl THAT GAME THAT WAS ON last night, I'm thankful that we're going to a game that will be sold out and have some modicum of interest to it. SEC teams are always a good draw, both as travelers and in TV ratings. This week will feature 15 Bowl games from yesterday through Saturday. New Year's Day will belong to the NFL this year since it falls on a Sunday. The big bowl games start next Monday night. Even with Auburn in a rebuilding year and having already lost it's luster as the returning national champion, I'll go on record now and say that our bowl game will have the highest ratings this week.

Virginia is certainly a wild card this year, coming out of nowhere and challenging for the ACC Coastal division. They didn't play Clemson, so we can't get a comparison of how we stack up there. We don't have much shared history between us, other than a UVA alumnus named George Petrie birthed our program back in 1892 and we had a home and home series back in the late 1990s.

As a matter of fact, we don't have any significant history with any founding ACC team other than Clemson, assuming you already know that Georgia Tech used to be in the SEC and spent a few decades in the Independent wilderness before joining their current conference. Regardless, it's no secret that most in our conference consider the Atlantic Coast to be a 'little brother' and we absolutely cannot lose another game to a ACC team this year.

Auburn doesn't have much to lose with this game so I think we should air it all out. And I think we will.

With two open coordinator slots, it's apparent now that Gene Chizik is trying to land some pretty big fishes who still have bowl games to be played, otherwise he'd gone ahead and made a move by now. With recruiting season about to go into overdrive, Chizik must be looking to make impact hires that will appease recruits, current players, fans and management. That's quite the task. I'm glad he's putting careful thought into it. His first batch turned out to be pretty good and he didn't have half the time.

I think one day we'll look back at Chizik's tenure at Auburn and see it as a multiple act play, with the curtain having just closed on the first act. Whether or not we'll have a long intermission next depends heavily on what will transpire in the next two to three weeks. With more teams joining the conference next season and with the SEC west already top-heavy with national title caliber teams, we can't afford to stay flat-footed.

I think Gus Malzahn goes out in style and throws the kitchen sink at Virginia. With his offense seeming overly conservative this season because of personnel shortages, it's time to release the trickery in the playbook and try any and everything to get this offense moving for one last hurrah. Will we see something reminiscent of the 2007 Chick fil A bowl, minus of course another half-season of Tony Franklin? Let it all air out.

Gene Chizik is taking direct control of the defense for this game. While some may believe this move to lead to a tsunami of direct-infused fire, I have my doubts that we'll see anything substantive, otherwise we might have seem his fine tuning earlier in the year. We're going to need some wholesale change in that department, but that doesn't mean the D can't let it all hang out for this game either.

I'm sure the Georgia Dome will be packed with the familiar blue and orange this weekend in the very home of the SEC. The site of our last game of 2011 will be the very same place as our first one of 2012. I think in between them, we're going to see some big changes as we get our team back on track. War Eagle and Happy New Year!

Hey, you'll watch ANYTHING if you're desperate enough.

Anyone else underwhelmed by the coaching market so far this month? Yea, Auburn needs coordinators, but I feel sorry for the rest of college football trying to rebuild a program on this withering crop of talent. No existing coach is the hottest name out there and none of the coordinators have any fire to them either. Where does a team start?

One thing's for sure, they can't poach at Auburn this year. We have had had the most (two) Frank Broyles award winners in that honor's brief history (1996). Guz Malzahn won it last year and Gene Chizik won it in 2004. We've had our share of good coordinators and coaches hold tenure on the Plains in the last two decades, a time when assistant coaches have come out of the shadows to become rock stars themselves.

Names like Petrino, Muschamp, and Chizik vaulted from the ranks of Auburn assistants in the last decade to eventually become SEC head coaches. We thought Gus Malzahn might be another name who had meteoric rises added to those but it looks like he's going to have to do a stint in triple-A ball first.

Maybe that's the way the tide is shifting once again in college football. It never stays the same for long. Top tier programs, including most BCS conference schools, may no longer be looking for the hottest coordinator to fill a slot, but may be looking instead for someone with some (any) executive experience under their belt. That may have been the case with Ole Miss, who hired Arkansas State's Hugh Freeze, and even North Carolina, who passed on Malzahn and took Southern Miss HC Larry Fedora.

Maybe schools might have gone cold on the notion of an assistant jumping right into the fire given Will Muschamp's problems this year. To my knowledge, no big name coordinator has landed a FBS job this season, even though there have been a few rumors, including Alabama's Kirby Smart. Maybe teams are just waiting for Bowl season to end before they start their poaching. It's probably why Auburn is coordinator-less, currently. Count on someone making a play at LSU's DC John Chavis in mid January, this year's Broyles Award winner.

Malzahn's story may one day be a case study for aspiring coaches on when to get while the gettin's good. If the rumored millions with Vanderbilt last year were true, many may think that Malzahn waited too long to answer the door when opportunity knocked. Granted, we're not in his head to know his motivations and not every coach is soley going to jump for the first big money offered. It does make you wonder though. These guys have to be concerned about taking that big leap and falling flat on their face.

I think the Gene Chizik story of redemption is about the most that any hot prospect coach can wish for if he does face-plant in the wrong first job. While getting plucked out of Iowa State with a 5-19 record to win a national championship two years later may be on par with Cinderella, perhaps AD's and Trustee boards are starting to look beyond just win and loss records when selecting a head coach and build on virtually anything.

Seemingly, any turn-around at one school is now measured as a success for a head coach and the prospects for advancement seem unlimited. If you ask me, betting on these short track records is ill-conceived and at best is just asking to languish in mediochrity for years, something out of the playbook of LSU's head coches in the 1990s. The system is built on hype, though, and hype is usually half right. Do you just throw it long then?

Derek Dooley wasn't long established at LA Tech before Tennessee came calling, but that's probably not a fair analogy considering the dire straights they were left in following Lane Kiffin. Regardless, I think Dooley has one more year in Knoxville to wow somebody or that Rocky Top carousel will be active yet again. Pedigree or not, you have to produce at some point.

Even retreads are back in play during this coaching bear market, with Mike Leach and Charlie Weiss landing at Washington State and Kansas, respectively. It wasn't long ago when Leach was the hottest commodity in CFB and Auburn had a vacancy. I was convinced that we needed to land the BIGGEST name we could. We had Leach if we wanted, even though it would have been a square peg into a round hole. I fell for the hype. I'm glad others thought differently.

Yea, this might be the most bland coaching market we've seen in a while. Maybe it'll heat up here soon. All the firings have been done. Now we wait for the dust to settle. I'll be honest: For Auburn, I wouldn't mind a Malzahn protege. And let's go get us a DC that eats nails for breakfast. I want a defense again.

It's been a long 30 days: two blow-out losses to our biggest rivals, one coordinator gone and the other still in doubt, no leader emerging at quarterback, no big-play threat re-emerging on offense, assistant coaches shopping around, and then this weekend, our best offensive player suspended indefinitely and our second best now interested in auditioning for the pros. Wait. No one ask if it can get any worse because I can't afford to take another hit. The only good thing that happened was a bowl invite come our way that we probably didn't deserve and that may yet come back to haunt us.

You have to wonder if the chips keep falling because everyone within the organization sees the writing on the wall. Roof was a foregone conclusion. Malzahn's been shopping for a while and maybe that caused Trooper and Curtis Luper to go want to go hang their shingle out elsewhere. Perhaps the players see the coaches no longer 'all in' and they don't care as much and think they can get away with being silly kids--like Michael Dyer evidently did. What was he thinking? Gene Chizik may not have seen it yet, but cracks are starting to show in this facade.

The team regressed during the season. There were no true leaders that emerged on offense or defense. First the players seemed to give up, then the fans got nervous and now the coaches are getting fidgety. What is going on? This isn't the Auburn I've known for over a quarter century. I don't like feeling this way. I'm not one to be overly negative. Many will realize that over the years that has hardly been my M.O. But I fear that this team is going to keep regressing even further that it may cause problems for next year.

I wasn't kidding two weeks ago when I said that I didn't want us to play a bowl game. I'll be honest. I just want this season to end and for us to regroup for next year. Call the game because of rain. It's too late, naturally. Sometimes the best move is just to end something. Like I noticed with the Atlanta Braves this fall, choking their way through the last month of the season: you don't collapse your way into the playoffs. It's pointless. And even though the bowl season is hardly a playoff, I'm basically of the same opinion. Although the Chick Fil A Bowl is probably the finest of the smaller bowls, it's a prize from the bottom shelf for us this year and the top for Virginia. I don't want to get rolled.

Auburn is suffering from a crisis of leadership with it's coaches and it's players. It seems like no one wants to step forward from either group and take the reigns. We have one more game left for them to try and hold it together with duct tape and bailing wire. I don't want to go out like this. We need a bowl victory. If you don't think the Capital One Bowl win over Northwestern wasn't important, just look at the springboard it gave for the following year. We've got to get this team to feel alive again one last time.

All I want for Christmas is a bowl victory, and I'm even willing to wait a week later for it. I hate to sound like the Grinch this year. Auburn will be back, this I know. I just can't wait for that day. Somebody say something below to make me feel better. Merry Christmas.

Thanks to everybody that participated this year. We started with 68 folks but lost a few along the way. KoolBell777 won week 14 with 9 points. No, the fix wasn't in. Here's the top 50 for the final ranking and let's get 100 next year!

Standings

It's been less than 24 hours as of the writing of this thread that the final BCS results have been announced and I'm already sick of hearing about the LSU-Alabama rematch. Such are the sour grapes of wrath for BCS has-beens like Auburn. For good measure and seemingly out of spite, the BCS computers have decided to stick it to us one last time by ranking us 25th. Along with Texas, we're the only 5-loss team in the poll, but we may be the only team in history to have lost to five teams ranked in the top 16 of the final BCS poll and still be ranked ourselves. Nothing to really take pride in though if you ask me--just saying.

With LSU, no one can doubt they're about as deserving as it gets. With Alabama, as much as it pains an Auburn fan to say it, the BCS numbers fell their way. I'll let others argue the merits both ways for the Tide and Oklahoma State, but in the BCS's narrow-focused goal of pairing one and two for all the marbles, it has painfully succeeded once again. In seasons like last year when the top two are pretty clear cut, few question the system. When the counts gets razor-thin and deserving teams get left out, the alarm bells go clamoring. I wonder who'll be the first to introduce legislation or investigation into Congress next year?

Arguably no greater year in the BCS era produced more grief and blow-backthan the 2004 season, when Auburn was left out of the CG in spite for having played a superior schedule to both USC and Oklahoma. I've always said that slight has continued to pay dividends for the conference, assisting Florida in 2006 and LSUin 2007 to ascend to the title game, and the momentum created by an unprecedented five straight national titles for the conference makes our champion a virtual lock for the chance these days. Now chalk it up to six, with no way to lose in January, and you've got to be wondering now if the rest of CFB is finally just sick of the SEC.

As far as convincing folks of the results, if you're staring at simple numbers and ratios, it would make the BCS conclusion more palatable and credible to the average fan if you totally took out the human element. But these formulas DO incorporate human polls in addition to the computer factors, and most people are going to look at the results this year and think that the fix is in. The reason they will is because the BCS rankings don't take into account factors like the rational human mind does--the one that's been conditioned by decades of precedent. Traditional fans still think that losing late, losing to rivals and failing to win your conference crown are negative events that virtually automatically negate a real chance at a MNC. In the BCS formulas, everything is crunched down to strength of schedule and wins and losses, which on the surface sound fair, but somehow in the end manages to filter out a lot of the traditionalism of the game.

Some claimed that LSUwas so highly ranked in the poll that they could have lost to Georgia and still have played for it all. We've seen that happen before--in 2003, with Oklahoma. That's contrary to everything a traditional fan was brought up believing. Alabama lost one high-point value game but failed to win their conference. In the old days, Alabama would have been eliminated from the national title game (but probably would have added it to their media guide just the same). These days, they get a rematch because the numbers say so. Is that fair? According to the system at hand, yes it is. But I think enough people in the sport are going to moan a collective, "Hell NO", and the math ain't gonna matter as much. Couple that along with an existing strong undercurrent of SEC enmity and I think that a push for big change is on the way.

Continue reading this post »

If you learned anything in world politics this year, it's that wholesale change in a nation's foundation can come in as quickly as the seasons. On Track Em Tigers, we'll never be accused of talking about deep subjects like world leadership changes or anything else that's life or death--no, our discussions have far deeper ramifications for most of us. I think for the Auburn family now, the winds of change are about to blow in at full gale force.

I think often times coaching staffs can be victims of their own success. Bring a group in some place and win where they seldom do and eventually the pressure is on to win more conference championships or to win a national one. And when those don't materialize, before you know it, they're shuffled out the door for a new crew who goes on to face-plant in comparison to the previous administration. Sometimes the new guys do get over the hump, but then there's the ever-present incessant demand and desire to win even more.

With last year's national championship, I think few Auburn fans thought that we would be building a dynasty starting in 2011 that would rival any seen in SEC history. Look at the neighborhood we live in. With four different teams from the conference and three from our own division winning four out of the last five national titles, we knew the landscape that we faced and that continued success would be hard-won. To quote EDSBS's Spencer Hall, you can't walk out on your back deck in the SEC west and not get into a freaking fistfight.

With LSU and Alabama cued up to make a BCS run in 2011 and with Arkansas on the rise, we knew everything would be a struggle this year, especially with a young team and no Cam Newton. Preseason, I thought to myself we'd be 8-4 or 9-3 at best. No rational Auburn fan thought a trip to the BCS CG or even to Atlanta was in the cards for us this year, but that we'd merely contend in the west and compete in our rivalry games. None of that was to be true.

Losing five regular season games ordinarily isn't a big deal, but getting blown out in four (FIVE by my standards) games against your biggest rivals is something that most bottom-dweller teams seldom do, much less the defending national champions. That phrase, defending national champions, it can't expire soon enough. It's almost a sad joke now. Never in CFB history have any champs so thoroughly failed to compete the next year.

And that's all we fans ask them to do--not win it all every year, but merely compete, and this team sadly did not--especially in the rivalry games that count the most. Who's at fault? There's plenty of blame to go around. I'm certain that this team quit on us around the first quarter of the Georgia game and we're not going to see them the rest of this season. There are many reasons why they probably quit, but the net effect is the same. Playing a bowl game at this point is basically worthless and an effort in futility--save for the paycheck. We'll probably just phone in our appearance anyway. Maybe they can direct deposit the check.

Then come the coaches. It's house-cleaning time. Chizik deserves a chance to right his ship but make no mistake, major surgery is warranted. Ted Roof should be gone by week's end. I bear Roof no ill will but his system just didn't work out. We believe in defense at Auburn and having his unit consistently ranked in the bottom of the NCAA in every major category is not acceptable. Don't tell me it's the talent. I'm tired of the excuses. It's time for us to move on--immediately. Write the check and let's poach someone else's DC for a change. We should have some clout and a little money left. I would hope.

Gus Malzahn, I'm not sure where you've been this year but I think I want our money back. Maybe your head was still in Nashville, dreaming of three mil a year, or more likely, thinking about boot-strapping to your next gig. Either way, your mind obviously wasn't on your tutelage of Auburn's offense, who have regressed back to a mediochre high school level. One of two things has happened to you: you've lost your edge to compete with the big boys or everyone's figured out your stuff. Either way, it's no good for us anymore. It's time for you to move on. Your big-mouthed wife can begin her shopping adventures in the outlet mills of the North Carolina foothills just in time for Christmas. Again, Jay Jacobs, get the checkbook out. Get us someone that wants to be here.

In the results-driven world that is college football, we were no longer getting the results we wanted out of our two biggest assistants. While some Auburn fans may think it disloyal to want to fire such highly ranked coaches they can't say that we have haven't given them every benefit of the doubt and every ounce of patience we could muster. It's time. Gene Chizik must now man up and make the tough decision to fire his boys. It won't be easy but that's why we pay him the big bucks--for the results.

Chizik can decide which of the other assistants to keep and which should go. He knows which guys will fit in under him or not. There's plenty of good coaches out there looking for a new gig--many fresh off head coaching jobs. Just this week, Turner Gill, Auburn's 'almost' coach got fired after two seasons at Kansas. Ron Zook is out after seven seasons at Illinois. Dennis Erickson is out at Arizona State and probably out to pasture. I'm not saying grab the biggest name you can, just grab the best you can. In the ever-rising stakes of college football, there's always good guys that are looking for a fresh start.

And I'll be looking forward to our fresh start next year--at the Auburn Spring practice. But first we'll need to do a little spring cleaning.

Picks of Doooom wins week 13 with 17 points. We're almost done. Short slate this week. Here's going into the final:

Standings