Link sAUsage: Basketball News

Well, after the news last week about Auburn basketball and Chuck Person, we weren’t sure whether we’d see some of the Tigers’ best players on the floor. Wrapped up in this whole deal, apparently the eligibility of two of Auburn’s stars came into question, even though we didn’t know exactly who those two players were. Auburn and Bruce Pearl have started fall practices, and as far as we know, everyone’s present.

When we say “everyone’s there” we mean “present” and not “on the floor”, as Austin Wiley’s been dealing with a leg injury that we don’t really know much about yet.

Speaking of Chuck Person and the vacancy left by his role in the recent scandal, Bruce Pearl has elevated someone to the newly-empty position.

On to Saturday — Ole Miss comes to town, ready to spring the upset in the dreaded 11 AM Jefferson Pilot/Lincoln Financial/Raycom Sports kickoff window. It would be a gigantic win, considering what the experts out west have said about this game.

The last time that Auburn beat two SEC opponents by 30 points in back-to-back games, it was 1987 (I wasn’t even born yet), but Gus Malzahn has found something to allow the Tigers to do that the past two weeks. Really good defense has been the constant all season long, but the big plays on offense have been the difference once SEC play started.

Things may be easier to keep the bus rolling if we can get all the tailbacks healthy. We haven’t really needed them since Jarrett Stidham is making such an impact with the long ball (eight completions of 47 yards or more in the past two games), but we’ll need true offensive balance once we get deeper into the conference slate.

Last week, Alabama beat Ole Miss by 63 points, and so it’s not unlikely that Auburn could also win big this weekend. We’re certainly favored, and we’ve won the last two games by an average of 38 points. Ole Miss’ defense is one of the worst in the country, allowing nearly as many yards per game as they gain themselves, and ranking 112th in scoring. Auburn should find the end zone plenty on Saturday, but we’re still very Tubervillian in our fears — the 11 AM kickoff looms large in the back of our collective mind.

War Eagle.