aubiefifty

al.com Where is Auburn projected in March Madness brackets before rematch with Alabama? Updated: Feb. 06, 2024, 10:31 a.m.|Published: Feb. 06, 2024, 10:30 a.m. ~3 minutes OXFORD, MS - FEBRUARY 03 - Auburn's Tre Donaldson (3) during the game between the #16 Auburn Tigers and the Ole Miss Rebels at Sandy and John Black Pavalion in Oxford, MS on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024. Photo by Zach Bland/Auburn TigersZach Bland/Auburn Tigers A little more than 24 hours before a rematch against Alabama, Auburn is, on average, projected as a No. 5 seed for the 2024 NCAA Tournament according to the Bracket Matrix, a compilation of several dozen bracket predictions. Auburn is in all 88 bracket projections currently logged into the matrix as of Tuesday morning, and has an average seed of 4.47. That makes Auburn the best No. 5 seed and just behind the lowed No. 4 seed, Dayton, which has an average seed projection of 4.24. The best projection Auburn received in the 88 brackets was a No. 3 seed, and the worst was a No. 7 seed. Auburn (18-4, 7-2), finally won its first Quad 1 game on Saturday as it beat Ole Miss 91-77 in Oxford, Mississippi. Auburn is now 1-3 in Quad 1 games and 17-1 against every other quadrant as of Tuesday morning. Appalachian State is currently No. 77 in the NET ratings and would become a Quad 1 loss for Auburn if it can jump into the top 75. The quadrants are defined as the following Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75 Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135. Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240 Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353 In February, the Mountaineers have already jumped back and forth across that Quad 1 threshold. Here are where some prominent publications project Auburn: The Washington Post: No. 4 seed ESPN: No. 4 seed USA Today: No. 5 seed CBS: No. 5 seed Fox Sports: No. 5 seed Alabama, Auburn’s opponent Wednesday night at Neville Arena, has quickly jumped up through the rankings and bracket projections following its win over Auburn on Jan. 24 in Tuscaloosa. As of Tuesday, Alabama is projected as a No. 3 seed. Auburn will face another likely March Madness team Saturday as it travels to Gainesville to face Florida. The Gators are currently in as a No. 11 seed, per the Bracket Matrix. Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com

auburntigers.com 'I love it here': Auburn fan favorite K.D. Johnson Auburn University Athletics 4–5 minutes AUBURN, Ala. – Moments before tipoff at Neville Arena, a hype video plays, reaching maximum volume when one of the Tigers’ most popular players screams into the camera. Just K.D. being K.D. The video clip, like the player it depicts, is quick and memorable. “They love it so I’m just going to keep it going for them,” Auburn senior guard K.D. Johnson said. “At the end of the day I’m just having fun.” In his third season on the Plains, Johnson has endeared himself to Auburn basketball fans through his passion and productivity. He’s made a team-leading 28 steals through 22 games, while committing only 17 turnovers. A key component of Auburn’s vaunted second unit, Johnson comes off the bench to lead “K.D. and the Sunshine Band,” a nickname for himself and fellow Tiger non-starters Chad Baker-Mazara, Dylan Cardwell, Chaney Johnson, Aden Holloway and Lior Berman. When I got here, it was everything I wanted it to be, plus more. I love it here. If you’re a fan of Auburn basketball, I’m a fan of you. K.D. Johnson Johnson prides himself on defense, a mentality he first embraced as a high school freshman. “My coach said, ‘You have a lot of potential, but smaller guards don’t always make it, so you’ve got to be different,’” Johnson recalled. “My different was trying to make an impact on defense, so I just stuck with that when I was young.” He’s routinely tasked with defending an opponent’s premier guard. “I put that on myself as a challenge,” Johnson said. “If I want to go to the next level, I’m going to have to see these players and even better players. I’m prepping myself for the next level. I take that challenge and put it on my back.” Johnson excels in transition, turning defense into offense by making steals and beating opponents downcourt for layups. A fearless driver, he uses his quickness to get to the basket and invites contact from bigger defenders, frequently getting to the free-throw line, where he’s an 81.5-percent shooter. “Moving fast, making smart decisions, trying to make open shots and get my team involved,” Johnson said. “We’ve got a lot of pieces that we’re trying to mix in. We’re doing great right now.” Ater making the All-SEC Freshman Team at Georgia in 2020-21, Johnson transferred to Auburn, helping the Tigers win the 2022 SEC championship in his first season. “The relationship between me and BP,” Johnson said of Auburn coach Bruce Pearl. “I’ve known him for quite a while. He was one of my first high-major Division I offers. When I got here, it was everything I wanted it to be, plus more. I love it here.” Johnson not only chose to come to Auburn. He’s chosen to stay, declining opportunities for more playing time at other schools. “The Auburn love,” said Johnson, who averages 18 minutes per game including the closing rotation of close games. “The fans who love me and show love after games. That has to factor in your decision.” To those fans, K.D. Johnson shares a message of appreciation. “You’ve got to love a person who loves you too,” he said. “If you’re a fan of Auburn basketball, I’m a fan of you. War Eagle, I love you guys.” Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer my apologies i could not get the video to load dang it!

i will add bruces presser when it drops and anything else worthy so keep your eyes peeled........

JoinSALE! 60% Off AuburnUndercover Annual VIP Membership today! LiveStream wall-to-wall coverage of Super Bowl LVIII from Las Vegas all week on CBS Sports HQ Midway through conference play, the SEC's best big man is Johni Broome Broome is playing some of his best basketball as Auburn attempts to make a run at an SEC crown Nathan KingFeb 5th, 10:40 AM Auburn knew Johni Broome had the potential to be the best big man in the SEC this season. And halfway through the conference slate, there’s little argument against not only Broome currently holding that title, but also being one of the best players in the league — and in college basketball. Make it four straight games now where Broome has tallied at least 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. His latest performance: 16 points, nine boards and a career-high seven assists in the Tigers’ 91-77 road win over Ole Miss. “At the end of the day, who's the biggest, baddest boy on the block? It was Johni,” Pearl said postgame. As has often been the case this season, Broome did his best work after halftime. He’s had three scoreless first halves in SEC competition so far — including Saturday’s win at Ole Miss, where he shot 0-of-4 from the floor. But Auburn is always keen to get Broome involved to pick up the offense out of the locker room, and the Tigers did so in Oxford, as Broome made 7-of-9 shots after the break, including the team’s first two buckets. JOHNI BROOME IN SEC PLAY (9 GAMES) First halves: 39.1% shooting (18-of-46), 4.6 points Second halves: 71.5% shooting (37-of-52), 9.9 points The only first half in SEC competition this season that has seen Broome hit double-digit scoring was when he dropped 16 points at Alabama on 7-of-11 shooting. Broome has seemingly accepted the torch the past few games from his frontcourt running mate, Jaylin Williams, after Williams was the Tigers’ go-to score in the early stages of the SEC slate. And even with Broome’s absurd production, Williams is still plenty effective, with 37 combined points on 65 percent shooting over Auburn’s past two games. But of late, Broome has flexed his improvements in overwhelming fashion while leading Auburn on both ends of the floor. He’s not just Auburn’s best player; he’s one of the best in the conference. Midway through the conference slate, Broome presently leads the SEC in: Overall efficiency (PER) Total rebounding Defensive rebounding Block rate 2-point field goals made Overall plus/minus Defensive plus/minus Overall win shares Defensive win shares The zoomed-out numbers tell the story for Broome, as does his recent tear: Auburn’s big man has a legitimate case for the program’s first SEC Player of the Year since Chris Porter in 1999. At the moment, there are two other names at the top with Broome: Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht and Alabama’s Mark Sears. Knecht has set the league on fire and is the unquestioned frontrunner right now. And it might be Broome ahead of the pack if Knecht hadn’t transferred in from Northern Colorado. The 6-foot-6 wing is a walking bucket, averaging an absurd 29.6 points per game over his last seven contests. He’s already scored 30 points in four SEC games. Sears, meanwhile, is not only averaging 21.3 points per game in league play, but is also, efficiency-wise, the best offensive player in the conference, with the most offensive win shares and points produced per game (19.4). Awards aside, though, Broome came back to Auburn after serious NBA draft consideration to improve upon a second team All-SEC campaign. He bet on himself that, in his second season in the conference after transferring from Morehead State, he could continue to evolve on both ends of the floor. Broome has done just that. From last season, he has improved in scoring, field-goal percentage, 3-point shooting, rebounding, assists, turnovers, and, perhaps most impressively, free-throw shooting. Moments after Auburn’s 2022-23 season came to a close with a Round of 32 loss to Houston, Broome was in Auburn’s locker room with a towel draped over his head, slamming his hand into a locker during interviews and burying his face in his hands. That 6-of-16 performance at the foul line ate at Broome in the offseason, and he attacked that weakness in his game. Not only is Broome 6.4 percentage points better than his free-throw rate last season, but in SEC competition, he’s been one of the best foul shooters on Auburn’s entire team. In SEC play, Broome is 76.7 percent from the line on 3.3 attempts per game. “I’m not trying to jinx his free-throw percentage,” Pearl said last week. “... But look, he’s shooting in the mid-80s, I think, from the free-throw line in SEC play. What does that tell you about his focus, his concentration and his effort?” Ole Miss was a big win for a number of reasons. For starters, Pearl described Auburn’s final 10 games of the regular season as perhaps the toughest stretch he’s seen as the Tigers’ coach. It began with a win, of which Auburn probably needs a few more to secure an NCAA tournament berth. But Auburn is, of course, reaching higher than that. Part of the team’s frustrations with the two straight road losses at Alabama and Mississippi State was the fact that the Tigers believe they can compete for an SEC regular-season championship, and the last thing they want to do is lose games they’re capable of winning. The response? A breezy home win over Vanderbilt, and their first Quadrant 1 win of the season on the road a few days later. Those Quad 1 opportunities aren’t slowing down, though. It’s not just Alabama and Florida that also fall into that category this week; Auburn’s next six games are all currently Quad 1’s. Starting with the Ole Miss victory, even a 4-3 record in those seven games would go a long way for Auburn’s NCAA tournament resume. Something like 5-2 would have the Tigers well positioned for a great seed in the Big Dance, not to mention likely contention for an SEC championship down the stretch. Two weeks ago, Broome was a “monster,” as Alabama coach Nate Oats described him, with 25 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks, while shooting 64.7 percent from the floor. The Tigers came up just short in a 79-75 loss, though, their first of the season in the SEC. And Broome had to watch the final moments from the bench, as he fouled out for the second time in as many trips to Coleman Coliseum. So there was only one thing he needed to say about the rematch against the Crimson Tide on Wednesday after Auburn took down Ole Miss: “It’s personal.” *** Subscribe to Auburn Undercover for the latest news and intel, podcasts, recruiting coverage and more *** *** Get Auburn news straight to your inbox with the Auburn Undercover newsletter *** Jason Caldwell's Monday morning quarterback column

CollegiateTraditions.com i thought some might be interested. i hope i got the addy right.

have a great one folks!

al.com When ‘Uncle Bo’ tried to help Auburn beat Jameis Winston Updated: Feb. 05, 2024, 8:11 p.m.|Published: Feb. 05, 2024, 8:00 p.m. 7–8 minutes When quarterback Jameis Winston won the Heisman Trophy and led Florida State to the national-championship game for the 2013 season, it allowed the Bessemer native to start a relationship with another Heisman Trophy winner from his hometown. But Winston figures Bo Jackson had an ulterior motive for initially contacting him. Jackson won the 1985 Heisman Trophy as an Auburn running back, and Winston was leading Florida State against the Tigers in the BCS national-championship game. “The first time I talked to Bo Jackson was after I won the Heisman, and you’re from Bessemer, Alabama,” Winston said during an interview for “Pardon My Take” that was released on Monday. “Now I know he lived in Chicago and all that, but he was calling me, he was like, ‘Hey, what’s up, Jabo?’ I was like, ‘That ain’t my name,’ I told him. ‘What’s up, Jameson?’ ‘That’s not my name, but I’m grateful to be talking to you.’ “This man, he called me – I don’t know what booster from Auburn was in his pocket or in his ear, but he would call me at all times of the night, like, wanting to talk, saying, ‘Hey, this Uncle Bo. Just calling to check in on you.’ I’m like, ‘Uncle Bo!’ I ain’t talked to you in my whole life, and I’m from your neighborhood. You calling me right before the national-championship game? Listen, when is the next time I talked to Bo Jackson? After the national championship? No. Next time I heard from him was at a Panini signing. ‘Hey, what’s up, Uncle Bo?’ “When I look back at it, I was like, well, you got to give credit to Uncle Bo because he was doing everything he could for Auburn. He knew I loved him, and he’s going to call me at all times of the night, inspiring me to whup his team even more? That was something funny, man.” Despite Jackson’s efforts, Winston and Florida State rallied past Auburn 34-31 on Jan. 6, 2014, in Pasadena, California, to win the national title. Winston said he chose to go from Hueytown High School to Florida State because he felt “cut from the same cloth” as Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher. “What did I want to accomplish in college?” Winston said. “I wanted to win a national championship, and if I can do that in football and baseball, yes, I’m going to Florida State.” Winston said not all the fans in his home state supported that decision. “When I committed to Florida State, the things that happened to me and my family was unbelievable,” Winston said. “Living in the state of Alabama 35 minutes from Tuscaloosa, I mean, my mailbox getting beat down. Thank the Lord, Home Depot had these mailboxes you could stick in the ground. … I still don’t have grass that grows in my front yard at my hometown house. I felt like somebody poisoned my grass. I don’t want to blame Harvey (Updyke) or anybody, but I believe something happened. Like, how does my grass stop growing? And I smelled gasoline when I got home. Me and my dad, we talk about this. “My grandmother, she worked at UAB Medical Center, God rest her soul, and she was an avid Alabama fan. Fans would send my grandmother – my grandmother – hate mail. You’re going to come after grandma just because her grandson ain’t going to Alabama?” Winston said he had examples of top quarterbacks from Alabama high schools who went to out-of-state colleges. “We had JaMarcus Russell (of Williamson), we had Pat White (of Daphne), we had Philip Rivers (of Athens),” Winston said. “These are Alabama quarterbacks that did not go to an Alabama school. So you have these people, and you just look at the course of what they’ve achieved in their life. Pat White, he did great things at West Virginia. Philip Rivers, he’s a Hall of Fame quarterback one day. And JaMarcus Russell, he was the No. 1 pick. He did some great things at LSU. … “So I was like, ‘Man, I’m going to take this chance.’ At this time, this was when Alabama was the traditional pro-style offense where their quarterback really wasn’t making an impact on their team. They were surrounded by great talent and a great defense, so the opportunity to go to Florida State, team up with Jimbo, who’s an offensive mind, and be around those players and dominate and go against the SEC – do you know how great it was? And it was crazy. “It was great to beat Auburn in the national championship. One, it was an SEC team. I wish it had been Alabama. That would probably have given me a little more street cred in the state. The whole house probably would have been gone.” While Winston played at Hueytown, Jackson played at McAdory and DeMeco Ryans played at Jess Lanier. But all three hail from Bessemer. After his Heisman, Jackson became the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft and earned Pro Bowl recognition with the Los Angeles Raiders and MLB All-Star status with the Kansas City Royals while becoming an endorsement juggernaut. Ryans was an Alabama All-American, the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, a Pro Bowler and, in 2023, the Pro Football Writers of America’s NFL Coach of the Year for his first season guiding the Houston Texans. “There are two people from Bessemer, Alabama, that I would say inspired me to be who I am,” Winston said. “One is DeMeco Ryans. He actually was my first signed football. My uncle had coached him from Little League all the way up, so shoutout to DeMeco in Houston, what he’s doing there. And Bo Jackson. … “So you’ve got those two people from your same city, and I ain’t talking about a suburban area or on the outskirts. We are from the same city. We were probably born at the same hospital. And you got two people like that. How can you not be inspired to be your best self when you got two people that already have paved the foundation for you?” A Pro Bowler as a rookie in 2015, Winston led the NFL with 5,109 passing yards in 2019 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 2021 and 2022, Winston began the season as the New Orleans Saints’ starting quarterback, but injuries limited him to 10 games in the two seasons. Winston served as Derek Carr’s backup for New Orleans in 2023. He completed 25-of-47 passes for 264 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions in seven games. Winston is on course to become an unrestricted free agent on March 13 unless the Saints sign him to a contract extension. FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1. Winsten is a turdof the first degree. he stinks. i never liked him and still do not.

al.com Why former Oregon, Auburn QB Bo Nix hopes freshman Walker White gets a chance at Auburn Updated: Feb. 05, 2024, 1:44 p.m.|Published: Feb. 05, 2024, 1:32 p.m. 4–5 minutes Auburn commit Little Rock (Ark.) Christian Academy quarterback Walker White passes the ball during the Hustle Up 7on7 national tournament at the Hoover Met Complex in Hoover, Ala., on Friday, July 14, 2023. (Dennis Victory | preps@al.com) Auburn freshman quarterback Walker White has a friend and mentor whose name many Auburn fans will recognize. Both training with QB Country out of Mobile, White and former Auburn and Oregon quarterback Bo Nix have had the opportunity to build a relationship that first started over the phone as Nix was in Eugene, Oregon and White was in Fayetteville, Ark. But since then, the two recently had an opportunity to meet in person. “I know they’re getting a really good player,” Nix said of White during Senior Bowl media day in Mobile on Jan. 31. “They’re getting a good guy, too. I understand that he works really hard and he’s a great teammate.” After having been committed to Auburn since Feb. 3, 2023, White officially onboarded with Hugh Freeze and the Tigers during the early signing period in December, inking his national letter of intent on Dec. 20. Less than three weeks later and after appearing in the All-American Bowl on Jan. 6, White made his way to Auburn’s campus, officially enrolled as a Tiger. And Nix played a small role. More: How a late night in a hotel lobby and talks with Bo Nix led Walker White to Auburn For White, coming to Auburn meant breaking away from family tradition and playing somewhere other than the University of Arkansas, where his father and two of his brothers spent their college careers. And considering Nix found himself in a similar situation when he was weighing his decision to transfer from Auburn, where his father Pat Nix played quarterback in the 90s, he was able to offer White a bit of advice. In an interview with AL.com, White’s mother, Amy White, told the story of her son and Nix’s interaction. “If you want to go somewhere else, go somewhere else,” said Amy White, echoing what Nix told her son. “And I think that kind of pushed Walker a bit.” In an interview with The Athletic, White said Nix was quick to offer him a useful piece of advice. “You’re only as good as the people around you,” White said, echoing what Nix told him. And it was that comment that led White to become one of Auburn’s biggest recruiters, helping Hugh Freeze and the Tigers secure the seventh-ranked recruiting class in the country and a historic wide receiver class. Now White finds himself in the same shoes Nix did in 2019 – as a freshman quarterback on Auburn’s football team. “I expect him to have a fun career. He’s going to be able to learn and pick up a lot because I’ve just heard the people he’s worked with in the past and everyone I’ve talked to speaks very high about him,” Nix said. “I’ve only been able to talk to him a few times and be around him just a couple, but I think Auburn got a good one.” Coming in as a 4-star prospect, White joins an Auburn quarterback room that features three other scholarship quarterbacks in incumbent starter Payton Thorne, sophomore Holden Geriner and redshirt freshman Hank Brown. Following Auburn’s loss to Maryland in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30, Freeze called Auburn’s quarterback race “wide open” after Thorne and Geriner struggled, while Brown turned some heads. Throw in White, and Auburn could be looking at a four-man battle in the spring. “I just hope they give him a chance,” Nix said of White. If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

auburnwire.usatoday.com Four-star Georgia commit visits Auburn, DJ Durkin on Sunday Taylor Jones 2–3 minutes Auburn has been high on the radar of four-star linebacker Jadon Perlotte for quite some time. Their stock has risen now that they have tabbed DJ Durkin as the new defensive coordinator. Perlotte, a Georgia pledge since December of 2022, visited Auburn on Sunday for the seventh time since the 2022 football season. One of the main reasons for his visit was to catch up with Durkin, a coach who recruited him heavily during his days at Texas A&M. Perlotte tells Caleb Jones of Rivals that Durkin sees Perlotte as a player who can be the “quarterback of the defense.” He also says that his experience as a coach intrigues him. “(Durkin) bringing his knowledge down here is just a big deal for me,” Perlotte said in an interview with Rivals. “We went through a lot of film. He knows what he’s talking about. His backers are very versatile and the next level is the league, that’s where I wanna be at.” Georgia is the frontrunner at this time, but Auburn and Florida State remain high in the chase. His high school teammate at Buford, KJ Bolden, signed with Georgia during the early signing period, which is important due to a quote published by Sports Illustrated last August which he stated that he and Bolden were a “package deal.” “I’ve got to play with him,” Perlotte said in August. “Nobody has scored, pass-wise, on our side 1-2 during our whole high school careers. I’ve got to play with KJ (Bolden). Our package is just different.” Perlotte is the No. 3 linebacker for the 2025 cycle and is the No. 25 overall player for the recruiting class. Perlotte says that he plans to visit Auburn more this year, including several times during the spring practice period. Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

si.com Three Options For Auburn To Hire As The Next Defensive Line Coach Zac Blackerby 2–3 minutes Here are three directions the Auburn Tigers could go with the next defensive line coach. The Auburn Tigers saw Jeremy Garrett leave for the NFL on Friday. After Garrett took the job with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Hugh Freeze's newly completed staff needed another assistant coach to fill out the staff at Auburn. Here are three names that could make sense to be Auburn's next defensive line coach. Kyle Pope - Georgia Tech defensive line coach Pope's name popped up as soon as the news of Garrett's departure was reported. He coached for Freeze at Liberty as the inside linebackers coach. Pope also was at Alabama as a graduate assistant in 2017. he also had two stints at Memphis as a defensive line coach as well as the defensive run game coordinator before landing the defensive line job at Georgia Tech. Freeze has made it clear that he's looking for a culture fit and guys he can trust. Pope checks both of those boxes and knows what will be asked of him on the recruiting front. Being from Sylacauga, Alabama can't hurt either. Rodney Garner - Tennessee defensive line coach Garner is a fan-favorite at Auburn due to his extended time on the Plains. He coached two different stints at Auburn as a former player and Auburn graduate. His first stint as a coach at Auburn was from 1990-1995 as tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator. He also was Auburn's defensive line coach from 2013 to 2020. If Freeze goes in this direction, it will make a splash on the recruiting trail. Vontrell King-Williams - Auburn Defensive Line Analyst It seems like Freeze will go with an external hire in this situation but in the case that he wanted to promote from within, it would probably be King-Williams. The defensive line analyst is liked by the players in the room and has their respect already so it could make sense for Freeze to take a flyer and take a risk here. Where the risk doesn't make sense is recruiting. Auburn has several key defensive line commits pledged to the 2025 class and this position group needs to remain a strength on the trail for Freeze's program to get where it possibly could in the coming years.

247sports.com Jason Caldwells Monday morning quarterback column Jason Caldwell 5–6 minutes D.J. James won’t let his otherwise successful Auburn career be defined by the final play of it. Two seasons on the Plains were good to the Spanish Fort, Alabama, native, as he transferred from Oregon to play closer to home ahead of the 2022 season. What followed was an efficient run that gave James the opportunity to come out and head to the NFL after just one year. He decided to come back for Auburn and had arguably an even better season in 2023 as one of the top coverage players in college football. He’s now positioned himself as a Day 2 draft pick in a couple months — maybe higher, depending on how he tests, or what scouts thought at the Senior Bowl. But James also ended up on the wrong end of one of the biggest highlight plays of the college football season — and the Iron Bowl rivalry. Isaiah Bond separated from James in coverage on Alabama’s miraculous, game-winning touchdown pass on fourth-and-31 in last season’s Iron Bowl. It was a sequence that will continue to sting for the Tigers for years to come, as they had one play to defend the goal line for an upset against their arch rival. After the game, Hugh Freeze said he consoled James, who blamed himself for the touchdown. Of course, it was a failure on all levels for Auburn, which didn’t pressure quarterback Jalen Milroe at all — and also wound up in that situation in the first place via a muffed punt by Koy Moore. But James said it took him only a week or so to put the play behind him. All he could do was tip his cap to Bond, and know he wasn’t solely to blame. “He just made a great play,” James said last week at the Senior Bowl. “You've just gotta live with it, live with your mistakes, get in the film room and go to the next play.” James admitted it was difficult knowing he wouldn’t have another game at Auburn to bounce back. He opted out of the Tigers’ bowl game to prepare for the NFL draft, and Saturday’s Senior Bowl was the first time he’s worn an Auburn helmet in a game since. A short-term memory is exactly what a cornerback needs to succeed, of course, and James said the Senior Bowl and draft process were strong motivators for him to focus on. “Just knowing the player I am,” James said. “I know I'm a great player. I make great plays all the time. It's something I do. Just have a short-term memory on it. I know I had another opportunity to showcase myself. Not a lot of people have that opportunity after the last game of your senior season, but I did. I knew I had the Senior Bowl invite, and I knew my draft grade. I knew I had another chance to showcase myself.” James snagged three interceptions and broke up 16 passes in his two years on the Plains, cementing himself as Auburn’s No. 1 cornerback in both seasons. Often matched up against the opposing team’s best receiver, James’ coverage numbers were downright elite, as he finished with the No.6 pure coverage grade in the SEC, per Pro Football Focus, among cornerbacks. That came after his 40 percent reception rate in 2022 was the 10th-best among all cornerbacks in college football. As such, James is projected anywhere from the second to fifth round in April’s draft. He had the opportunity to be drafted last year, and even received a Senior Bowl invite, but he and fellow starter Nehemiah Pritchett decided to return to school. “Man, it paid off a lot,” James said of his decision to come back in 2023. “Just being able to compete with my guys at Auburn … just showcasing my skills at the SEC level again, just showing that I can do it.” Travel was a lot kinder to James’ family — from Spanish Fort, just a few miles from where he played in this year’s Senior Bowl in Mobile — once he transferred to Auburn. James said the reason he left Oregon was because head coach Mario Cristobal took the Miami job. James considered following him to Miami, but going back to high school, Auburn was a place James always saw himself playing. With the chance to continue Auburn’s recent legacy of NFL draft success at the cornerback position, it’s safe to James took full advantage of his return home. “I have no regrets playing out there (in the Pac-12) and then transferring to the SEC to Auburn,” James said. “Making that transition was fun, coming back down South and close to home. That was amazing." *** Subscribe to Auburn Undercover for the latest news and intel, podcasts, recruiting coverage and more *** *** Get Auburn news straight to your inbox with the Auburn Undercover newsletter ***

wow! they are beautiful!

i hope you are right!. i would celebrate if we beat them at tiddly winks.

you are very sick big shooter please get help but i am too old to fight anyone. you spongebob jr? grins

i am doing much much better TT but i sure appreciate it.

i am still waiting for someone to say i jinxed auburn. maybe they are waiting until after the game to bring the thunder if the worst happens?