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AUBURN FOOTBALL
The 2014 football season just ended last night, so of course we have our first 2015 Pre-season Top 25 out this morning. USA Today is the first up with it. And let's see how far we have to go down the list to find Aubu - OH HEY, THERE WE ARE AT #2. Yep, that's right. USA Today thinks the offense will be even more explosive and Will Muschamp's defense will make the big impact we hope, and the Tigers will be pre-season #2. AL.com is just predicting where Auburn will land and thinks the Tigers should be somewhere in the Top 15. As far as 2014 is concerned in the AP Poll, the Tigers will finish at #22.
Gus was asked about NFL job openings while he was doing the ESPN rounds for the National Championship Game, yesterday. He said his only concern was getting back to the sidelines of the college football championship. With the Muschamp hire, it was unlikely he was going to make a move this year, anyway. I do think he may one day make the move to the NFL, but right now he's loving what he's building on the Plains and I think he and his wife genuinely love Auburn.
In awesome (now former) player news, Sammie Coates is a finalist for the Rare Disease Champion Award.
AuburnUndercover, the Auburn 247Sports site, wrote about Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee and his keys to success in recruiting.
Speaking of recruiting... this weekend is going to be a pretty big weekend for Auburn. Ok, that's not quite correct. This weekend is going to be be SUPER HUGE AND IMPORTANT. Why? Because at least four 5* prospects will be in town. Yesterday 5* DE CeCe Jefferson said he would be visiting as a part of the Tigers' big recruiting weekend.
Also, a big defensive end prospect has reclassified from the 2016 class to 2015 and will have teams scrambling to land him over the next few weeks. When I say big, I mean big. He's 6'8" tall. Prince Tega Wanogho, Jr is his name. He's originally from Nigeria, and his scholarship offers are racking up by the day.
AUBURN BASKETBALL
Dr Z is going to do some basketball wrap-ups for us now that we're in the SEC Schedule. Here's his first one on the first week.
Bruce Pearl thinks the SEC is a very strong league this season and could end up with five NCAA bids. I wouldn't hold my breath that Auburn is going to be one of them. I do think Auburn can improve enough to get a post-season bid in the NIT if they keep getting better with every game. I just don't know, though. The game against Florida on Thursday will go a long way towards showing us that.