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247sports.com Rivalry matchup, AUTLIVE program, Gameday set for a busy Saturday at Neville Arena Mark Murphy 4–6 minutes AUBURN, Alabama–Auburn will face a Top 25 ranked opponent for just the third time this basketball season when the Tigers take on the visiting Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday at Neville Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. CST and the game will be televised on ESPN. Additionally, Auburn will be the host of this week’s ESPN College Gameday television show from 10-11 a.m. and it will be the basketball program’s annual AUTLIVE fundraiser to provide money for in-state cancer prevention and treatment programs. Prostate cancer screenings will take place on the concourse of Neville Arena before and during the game for men who would like to be tested. Coach Bruce Pearl’s Tigers are expected to be tested in a major way with Alabama arriving with a No. 3 nationally ranking built on the strength of an 11-0 SEC record and a 21-3 overall mark. The Tide is the highest ranked opponent Auburn has played at home since Pearl took over as head coach. The last time Auburn played the third-ranked team in the country was on March 29, 2019 at Kansas City in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 round. The Tigers dominated North Carolina that day, winning 97-80. Auburn goes into Saturday’s contest after losing its previous two games at Tennessee last Saturday and at Texas A&M?on Tuesday. Tennessee was ranked No. 2 nationally when it edged the Tigers 46-43. Auburn was ranked 13th when it defeated the visiting Razorbacks 72-59 at Neville Arena on January 7th. The Tigers, who are 17-7 overall and 7-4 in the SEC, were ranked throughout the season until this week’s poll. Pearl says that his players will be challenged by Alabama’s offense, which is averaging an SEC-high 83.7 points per game. One of the coach’s keys to success is “guarding them, and guarding them in transition.” The last time Alabama played at Neville Arena the Tigers won 100-81. Pearl predicted that Saturday’s game will like be high scoring. “They play really fast”?he pointed out. “It will be up-tempo. It will be an exciting game because (of) the pace that both teams like to play at.” Auburn’s coach is encouraging fans who are at Neville Arena to purchase a T-shirt to support the AUTLIVE program, which provided $250,000 of support to cancer patients and their families in the state of Alabama in 2022. Pearl said those funds helped save lives and said that men getting screened on Saturday for prostrate cancer can save lives, too. “Once again, this year thanks to Mike Slive’s foundation, we are going to do prostate cancer screenings for gentleman 40 years or older,” Pearl said. “The way to outlive cancers is to detect it early, the way to detect early is to know at what times in your life you're supposed to get your prostate checked or your colon checked or women got to have their mammograms or you have got to do your blood work. “Or, you've to pay attention to that rash or whatever it is because if you detect cancer early, you'll die of something else,” said Pearl, who added that it is exciting to the ESPN Gameday at Neville Arena again this year. Auburn and Duke are the only two programs chosen to be hosts for Gameday in each of the show’s most recent three seasons. Pearl said Gameday decided to visit Auburn on Saturday because Alabama is playing very well and the energy Auburn’s fans provide. “The Jungle and Neville arena is as good as an environment as there is in college basketball,” the coach said. “That's why they are here. What kind of a statement does it make about our program when we've been able to get College Game Day here on our campus three years in a row?” Auburn junior center Dylan Cardwell said he is looking forward to playing in a rivalry game as well as being a part of the fundraiser event. “Learning about people's stories through AUTLIVE, I have got to see what people have been dealing with off the court. 1COMMENTS “I didn't know that my assistant coach Wes Flanigan had cancer until the AUTLIVE game last year,” Cardwell pointed out about the coach who dealt with cancer, which temporarily sidelined Flanigan when he was a star player at Auburn.

auburnwire.usatoday.com Auburn Basketball vs. Alabama: Stream, injury report, broadcast info for Saturday's game in Neville Arena Taylor Jones ~3 minutes Auburn plays Alabama on Saturday afternoon, and if you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place. The Auburn Tigers look to extend its two-game winning streak on Saturday afternoon against their rivals from across the state, No. 3 Alabama. The task will be a tall one, as Auburn has lost two games in a row, and Alabama enters the game with a 12-0 record against SEC teams. Buy Tigers Tickets Auburn has lost three out of four games, but head coach Bruce Pearl says that he is not in “panic mode” and is pleased with the way that his team has played recently despite the losses. “We’ve lost three out of the last four, but the losses at West Virginia and at Tennessee and at Texas A&M — three hard places to play where we put ourselves in position to have a chance to win. I don’t know how many teams could do that, and these guys have been able to do that just because they’ve been grinding,” Pearl said. “Even though the competition is getting better, we’ve also gotten better — just not enough to win.” Below, you will find all of the information you need for Saturday’s game in Auburn, including a how-to-watch guide, an injury report, and a projected starting five. Here’s when you should tune in to see the game: Date: Saturday, Feb. 11 Time: 1 p.m. CT TV Channel: ESPN (Dan Schulman, Jay Bilas, Holly Rowe) Live Stream: fuboTV (watch here) Radio: Auburn Sports Network (Andy Burcham, Sonny Smith, Brad Law) AUBURN Chance Westry Knee Out for the season ALABAMA Noah Clowney Face Questionable for Saturday’s game AUBURN Johni Broome Wendell Green Jr. Jaylin Williams ALABAMA Brandon Miller Mark Sears Jaden Bradley AUBURN G Wendell Green Jr. G Zep Jasper G Allen Flanigan F Jaylin Williams F Johni Broome ALABAMA G Jaden Bradley G Mark Sears F Noah Clowney F Brandon Miller C Charles Bediako Alabama leads the all-time series, 99-65 Alabama is 33-28 in games played in Auburn Auburn has won two straight games in the series LAST FIVE PLAYED IN AUBURN Feb. 1, 2022 Auburn 100 Alabama 81 Jan. 9, 2021 Alabama 94 Auburn 90 Feb. 12, 2020 Auburn 95 Alabama 91 Feb. 2, 2019 Auburn 84 Alabama 63 Feb. 21, 2018 Auburn 90 Alabama 71

Five expectations for Auburn football's quarterbacks under Hugh Freeze Lance Dawe 5–6 minutes Here are five things we can expect out of Hugh Freeze's quarterbacks at Auburn. In this story: Auburn Tigers New Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze is known as a bit of a quarterback guru. Now entering his first season on the Plains, Freeze will have that reputation put to the test. Auburn quarterback Robby Ashford was thrown into the fire as a freshman and unsurprisingly struggled in a variety of areas - accuracy, decision making, turnovers, etc. However, he did flash glimpses of potential, rushing for over 700 yards and finished sixth in the SEC in yards per completion (min. 100 attempts). Unless Freeze decides to roll with a quarterback out of the portal, he's going to have the chance to build on Ashford's foundation and unlock his potential. Regardless of who the signal-caller is, here are five things we can expect out of Freeze's quarterbacks at Auburn. More gambling Jason Homan/ Auburn Daily Over the course of his ten seasons coaching Division I college football, Hugh Freeze quarterbacks throw an interception on 2.9% of their passes. Compare this to Auburn, who from 2013-2022 threw a pick on 2.1% of their passes. The gap between these two styles of play starts to shift when you look at interception totals - Hugh Freeze QB's 117 interceptions to Auburn's 65 - but that's not a fair comparison because of two reasons. One, the Tigers have thrown the ball significantly less than the average SEC team over the last decade. Two, there's a two-year gap in the Hugh Freeze numbers because he was out of coaching. Only twice has Auburn eclipsed double-digit interceptions since 2013. Hugh Freeze quarterbacks have done it seven out of his nine seasons. More turnovers come with throwing the ball more. Especially in Freeze's offenses. More explosive play Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports While turnovers may be a downside, more explosive play is also to be expected from Freeze signal-callers. During his time at Ole Miss, Freeze never had a passing offense finish outside of the top five in the SEC in yards per game and only had one aerial attack step outside the top five of the league in yards per attempt. If we're looking at this year specifically, there's reason to expect Auburn's receiver room to be used pretty differently considering the blend of size and speed the Tigers have in the rotation. Physical, big-bodied receivers are what have thrived in Freeze's systems in the past - and part of it has to do with the downfield passing from his quarterback. This isn't Joe Burrow and the 2019 LSU Tigers by any stretch. However, fans should be excited about a more, well, exciting passing game. Better accuracy Eric Starling/Auburn Daily Seven of Freeze's ten offenses have seen better completion percentages than Auburn's passing attacks in the same year. We won't sit here and tell you that every year Freeze beat out the Tigers' passing attack by a wide margin in that category, but it's not unfair to say Freeze's quarterbacks have had a consistent edge over Auburn's from a raw numbers perspective - more reps, completions, accuracy, etc. If we're talking specifically about this upcoming season, there's little doubt that Ashford will improve on his 49.5% completion percentage. Dual-threat abilities Eric Starling/Auburn Daily Freeze has utilized his quarterback's legs to not just produce yardage, but to actually get in the endzone. His starting signal-callers have averaged 447.1 yards on the ground per season to go along with 7.5 rushing touchdowns. What's interesting about Freeze's use of dual-threat quarterbacks is that the more he's used them in a given season, the better the team has done overall. Now, the utilization of a QBs legs may not directly correlate to wins, but it does indicate that the offense probably performs better and therefore the team as a whole is more competitive. Four of Freeze's ten seasons have included his starting quarterback rushing for over 500 yards. Those teams went a combined 38-11 (0.78 win percentage) and produced all three of his ten-win seasons. It does make one wonder what could be in store if Auburn were to ride with Robby Ashford and improve his passing game... Big performances in big wins Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports Excluding 2012, Hugh Freeze is 5-7 against top 10 opponents. In those five wins, his quarterbacks produced some solid (averaged) stat lines: - 314.4 passing yards per game - 10 total TD/2 INT - 79.6 QBR When the quarterback plays well in important contests, the team plays well.

247sports.com Cadillac Williams 'ecstatic' to coach USF transfer Brian Battie Nathan King 5–6 minutes Philip Montgomery had already directly led to Auburn landing a big-time transfer, when his former starting left tackle at Tulsa, Dillon Wade, committed to the Tigers early in the transfer cycle. Then he planted the seeds for Cadillac Williams to pick up an important depth piece in Auburn’s running backs room. Auburn’s new offensive coordinator had mentioned to Williams, at some point in December, that his Tulsa team faced a tremendous tailback at USF in 2022. That player was Brian Battie, who went for 169 yards and a touchdown in the penultimate game of Montgomery’s tenure at Tulsa. Then Battie jumped in the portal Jan. 6. Williams worked some of his connections in the Tampa area and got the senior running back on the Plains for a visit two days later. The next day, Battie was a Tiger. “To see an All-American guy — a guy who put up the production that he has put up, to be in the portal, and for us with Tank (Bigsby) leaving, for us, it was a need for us,” Williams said last week. “To have a guy like him jump in there, I was ecstatic. So, got an opportunity to cut on his film, and his film speaks for itself. I got an opportunity to talk to him, and I tell you, he’s an awesome young man that has a bright future.” As Williams referenced, Battie was a first team All-American on special teams in 2021, after he led the nation with three kick-return touchdowns. In the backfield, he was a 1,000-yard rusher this past season, racking up 1,186 yards and eight touchdowns. At just under 15 carries per game, Battie finished with the No. 21 yards-per-carry clip in the country (6.74 yards). “I mean, he’s a guy who rushed for over 1,000 yards last year,” Williams said. “He was a dangerous kickoff returner. Now, his whole thing is he gets to come here and have an opportunity to define his role and play big-boy ball.” Auburn is obviously set to replace Bigbsy, who finished as the program’s No. 7 all-time rusher after three seasons on the Plains. Waiting patiently as Bigsby’s backup the past two years has been Jarquez Hunter, who’s shown all the traits of being a lead back in the SEC, most recently with 668 yards and seven touchdowns as a sophomore. While the Tigers have a couple young, talented pieces in the room — namely redshirt freshman Damari Alston and incoming freshman Jeremiah Cobb — an experienced transfer pickup helps to alleviate some pressure for them to be immediately ready to contribute at a high level in the SEC. Auburn’s backfield won’t be as big, but it should be nimbler and faster with the addition of Battie, who was listed at 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds at USF. Hunter has power but is more of a horizontal runner than Bigsby. “First of all, the speed, the explosiveness — but I love the fact that the first guy, he either made him miss or broke the tackle,” Williams said of Battie. “The first guy is never going to bring him down or tackle him. Also, he’s a smaller guy, but he’s a natural runner between the tackles. He’s a running back. He’s a football player. He’s a guy that understands leverage and angles, a guy that’s going to break tackles — and he’s strong.” Battie’s showing against Tulsa at the end of the season was his best performance of the year. His second-best was in September at Florida, when he knifed through an SEC defense for 150 yards, 8.8 yards per carry and a touchdown, as USF nearly pulled the upset in a 31-28 loss. “That’s right,” Williams said of Battie’s impressive showing against SEC competition. “If you turn on the Florida game and you watch him run the football … he’s a guy that you can run between the tackles. He’s a guy that understands leverage and angles. He’s a guy that’s going to break tackles, as small as he is.” Like Hunter, Battie adds a pass-catching element out of the backfield, too. With 14 catches last season, he and Hunter combined for 31 receptions and 335 yards through the air. Per Pro Football Focus, USF put Battie out at slot receiver an average of 4.2 snaps per game. “To me, that takes our offense to a different level because now you can have a guy like that, put him in the slot and then bring him out the backfield,” Williams said. “Now he’s matched up on guys he’s more athletic than that he should win when we get the ball to him out in space. So, if we can add that component to him catching the ball out of the backfield, doing things like that, he becomes even more valuable.” Speaking of PFF, Battie finished the year as the No. 7 highest-graded running back at the Group of Five level. “He’s very competitive, and he wants to be one of the best,” Williams said. “We're getting a complete back that I think can do it all.”

stay on topic scooter.

well you can take my name off that list. i am not a so called expert and i started this thread because i wanted opinions. last year many said hunter was better than tank but he had seniority. but i was sincere in my question and not defending anything and your wording makes it look like you have a problem with me when you do not that i know of. you could have worded it better.

Alabama native Charles Barkley arrives for the Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony in Springfield, Mass, Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022, in Springfield, Mass. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill) NEW! By Mark Heim | mheim@al.com CNN is in negotiations to bring in NBA analyst Charles Barkley. Dylan Byers is reporting, citing two sources, that Chris Licht, the CEO of CNN, has the former Auburn and NBA star on his shortlist of potential candidates for a news-oriented primetime show. The show, per the report, the TNT “Inside the NBA” analyst would interview “newsmakers, journalists, and other guests about various topics of the day.” Barkley has always been known to share open, honest, blunt and funny takes. “Chris is having conversations with dozens of culturally relevant individuals from the worlds of news, sports, entertainment and comedy,” CNN spokesman Matt Dornic told Byers. A deal with Barkley, per the report, would allow the Alabama native to continue his role with TNT. Gayle King, per the report, is also being courted. Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.

Alabama at Auburn odds, tips and betting trends DataSkrive 4–5 minutes The Alabama Crimson Tide (21-3, 11-0 SEC) will look to extend a three-game winning streak when they visit the Auburn Tigers (17-7, 7-4 SEC) on Saturday, February 11, 2023 at Neville Arena. The game airs at 2:00 PM ET on ESPN. In this article, we investigate the Auburn vs. Alabama odds and lines for this matchup. The Tigers and the Crimson Tide play with no line currently set for the matchup. Auburn has a 12-12-0 record against the spread this season compared to Alabama, who is 15-9-0 ATS. The Tigers have hit the over in 15 games, while Crimson Tide games have gone over 11 times. Auburn has a 7-3 record against the spread while going 6-4 overall over the past 10 games. Alabama has gone 7-3 against the spread and 9-1 overall in its last 10 games. Ahead of this college basketball matchup, here is everything you need to get ready for Saturday’s action. How to watch Auburn vs. Alabama Game Day: Saturday, February 11, 2023 Game Time: 2:00 PM ET TV Channel: ESPN Find out how to watch for free with fuboTV. Auburn vs. Alabama prediction Alabama 75, Auburn 70 Against the spread Auburn has put together a 12-12-0 ATS record so far this year. Alabama is 15-9-0 ATS this season. The Tigers average only 3.6 more points per game (72.3) than the Crimson Tide allow (68.7). Auburn is 10-6 against the spread and 12-4 overall when scoring more than 68.7 points. Alabama has a 14-5 record against the spread and a 19-0 record overall when allowing fewer than 72.3 points. The Crimson Tide score an average of 83.7 points per game, 19.1 more points than the 64.6 the Tigers give up to opponents. Alabama is 15-9 against the spread and 21-3 overall when it scores more than 64.6 points. Auburn’s record is 12-12 against the spread and 17-7 overall when it gives up fewer than 83.7 points. PLAY: Free, daily sports pick’em contests and win prizes. Play now! Players to watch Auburn Johni Broome leads his team in rebounds per game (9.0), and also puts up 13.7 points and 1.2 assists. At the other end, he posts 1.0 steal and 2.6 blocked shots (eighth in the country). Jaylin Williams posts 10.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per contest. At the other end, he delivers 1.1 steals and 1.0 block. Alabama Brandon Miller is posting team highs in points (19.0 per game) and rebounds (8.3). And he is producing 2.0 assists, making 45.7% of his shots from the floor and 44.4% from beyond the arc, with 3.2 triples per game. Mark Sears gets the Crimson Tide 13.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He also puts up 1.4 steals and 0.1 blocked shots. The Crimson Tide get 10.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game from Noah Clowney. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

How Auburn made 'wild' climb up 2023 recruiting rankings after coaching change Updated: Feb. 08, 2023, 8:42 a.m.|Published: Feb. 08, 2023, 7:05 a.m. 11–14 minutes The on-field product wasn’t the only thing that fell apart during Bryan Harsin’s disastrous tenure at Auburn. The Tigers’ recruiting efforts were well behind those of their peers and biggest rivals. At the time of Harsin’s firing on Halloween, Auburn’s 2023 recruiting class was ranked 55th in the nation and 13th out of 14 SEC programs, according to the 247Sports Composite team rankings. It was a precipitous fall for Auburn on the recruiting trail under Harsin, and a steep climb for the program after his departure. Read more Auburn football: Auburn athletics records record $22.9 million profit during 2021-22 fiscal year Zac Etheridge, Wesley McGriff excited about Auburn secondary that returns every key piece in 2023 Hugh Freeze, Auburn coaches face time crunch before start of spring practices Yet in the three months since Harsin’s firing, Auburn’s coaching staff — first the interim staff under Cadillac Williams and then the new staff under Hugh Freeze — worked tirelessly to make up ground with the 2023 class and through the transfer portal. When the dust settled on National Signing Day last week, Auburn finished with the nation’s No. 17 signing class and a transfer haul that ranked fourth in the country. “There’s no more important thing (than recruiting),” Freeze said. “I would love to say that I knew our team better, but the current roster demanded that we hit it hard. I just wasn’t afforded the opportunity to sit in the office and do anything else other than recruit. So, we hit it hard…. It’s hard to really say how much we closed the gap on the teams that you’re trying to catch, but I do believe that we improved ourselves.” That improvement took a concerted effort from Auburn’s staff over those three months — from on-field coaches to personnel staff and the Tigers’ recruiting office, it was an all-hands-on-deck endeavor to salvage the 2023 class and restock the cupboard heading into Freeze’s first season as head coach. That effort began in earnest as soon as Harsin was out the door and Auburn’s staff experienced an in-season shakeup. Williams was elevated to interim head coach, and with a shorthanded and restructured staff, the Tigers worked to make the most of the final month of the regular season. It was a four-week stretch that included two games at Jordan-Hare Stadium, the first of which was an instantly memorable gameday atmosphere against Texas A&M. During that final month of the regular season, Williams and Co. worked to hold the class together while also getting a couple of key additions. Auburn picked up commitments from four-star defensive lineman Darron Reed and three-star edge defender Brenton Williams. Reed, a top-200 recruit in the 2023 class, flipped from LSU the week of the Iron Bowl. Williams, a local prospect from Opelika, committed just hours before Freeze was hired as Auburn’s next coach on Nov. 28. “Honestly, Auburn is a special, special place, and I think those four weeks of getting kids here on campus, letting them see that gameday atmosphere and us getting that push on the national level — even though we were a 5-7 team — (helped),” Williams said. After Freeze took over as head coach, he made recruiting his top priority, even as he worked to quickly assemble his inaugural staff on the Plains. Time was of the essence, with just more than three weeks between Freeze’s hiring and the start of the early signing period on Dec. 21. “It’s been some sleepless nights,” said defensive backs coach Zac Etheridge, one of the only holdovers from the previous staff. “I mean, we’ve been on the road, we’ve been in a lot of schools, we’ve been all over, and we just been getting out…. This is what you signed up to do. This is what you love. You get a chance to meet new people. You get a chance to talk about Auburn, what you truly love. So, it’s not been a job. It’s been fun and we’re excited about the results.” Those results started to show in the days leading up to the early signing period. On Dec. 11, Auburn flipped four-star cornerback Colton Hood from Michigan State and three-star offensive tackle Tyler Johnson from Texas Tech following their official visits to the Plains. Two days later, the staff flipped four-star center Connor Lew from Miami. The Sunday before the December signing period, Auburn picked up commitments from four-star safety Sylvester Smith and three-star defensive lineman Stephen Johnson, who flipped from Arkansas, as well as FIU tight end transfer Rivaldo Fairweather. Then on the eve of signing day, the Tigers added commitments from three-star quarterback Hank Brown, who was previously committed to Freeze at Liberty; three-star JUCO defensive lineman Quientrail Jamison-Travis; three-star JUCO offensive tackle Izavion Miller and Vanderbilt edge transfer Elijah McAllister. Another wave came at the start of the early signing period. Auburn landed its two highest-rated recruits in the 2023 class, flipping four-star defensive lineman Keldric Faulk from Florida State and four-star cornerback Kayin Lee from Ohio State. By the end of the day, Auburn was up to No. 19 in the 247Sports Composite team rankings, and that was before All-America cornerback Tyler Scott announced his commitment on Jan. 7 (though he signed with Auburn prior to going public with his decision) and three-star corner C.J. Johnson a day later. It required quite the sprint to the finish line to make the move 36 spots up in the rankings after Harsin’s firing. While that surge overlapped with the beginning of the first transfer window, the flurry of activity paled in comparison to the frenzied push from Freeze and his staff during that 45-day transfer window. RELATED: Breaking down Auburn’s additions, losses and remaining needs after first transfer portal window While Freeze said at his introductory press conference that he wanted high school recruiting to be the foundation of what he builds at Auburn, he acknowledged the need to lean heavily into the transfer portal in Year 1. Auburn’s staff treated that 45-day window with a sense of urgency, adding a dozen transfers and retaining a couple of players — defensive lineman Zykeivous Walker and wide receiver Tar’Varish Dawson Jr. — who previously opted to transfer during Harsin’s tenure. “I kind of feel like you’re at an auction that’s going three times faster than it’s supposed to,” defensive coordinator Ron Roberts said. “…You just kind of had to dive in with two feet and keep rolling, remain flexible day to day.” Auburn’s staff closely monitored the transfer portal and moved quickly when possible fits became available. The biggest area the Tigers wanted to address was the line of scrimmage, so they prioritized the offensive and defensive lines. Offensively, it was a push for a rapid rebuild and replenishing of the numbers in the trenches. Although Auburn already signed five offensive linemen — four high school recruits and a JUCO prospect — the work wasn’t done in trying to hit Freeze’s desired number of 16 linemen on scholarship. “With the transfer portal and how competitive it is, it’s certainly a challenge, but a challenge that I was excited about,” offensive line coach Jake Thornton said. “This is not my first O-line having to rebuild. You know, this is the biggest one I’ve had to rebuild, but at Tennessee Tech and Gardner Webb, those two places were in similar situations where I had to go rebuild.” First, Auburn added four-star offensive tackle transfer Dillon Wade, who played for new Tigers offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery when he was head coach at Tulsa. A couple weeks later, the program added another bookend piece to the line with four-star Western Kentucky offensive tackle transfer Gunner Britton. The final addition to the offensive line came Jan. 10, when four-star ECU transfer Avery Jones flipped from Illinois, providing Auburn with an experienced potential starter at center. “Some of those challenges were very daunting, truthfully,” Freeze said. “I don’t remember a time in my whole career where we felt like we had to sign nine offensive linemen. I mean, that’s unheard of to try to get to your 16 number. That’s a big challenge…. There was just no way around it. We had to get after it.” On the other side of the line of scrimmage, Auburn needed reinforcements after losing Derick Hall, Eku Leota and Colby Wooden, among others along the defensive line. The Tigers were set to return just seven defensive linemen from last season, with only a few key contributors returning to the fold. While Auburn signed five in the 2023 class, experience and — perhaps more importantly — immediate depth were needed up front for the Tigers to be able to accomplish what they felt necessary in spring practice and throughout the offseason. Auburn found that in a foursome of Power 5 transfers: the aforementioned McAllister, former Kentucky defensive tackle Justin Rogers, former Maryland defensive lineman Mosiah Nasili-Kite and former Purdue defensive lineman Lawrence Johnson. “As we looked at adding veteran pieces to that, we wanted guys with experience that weren’t afraid of work,” defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett said. “We signed one-year guys, so guys that aren’t afraid of competing and were saying, ‘let’s compete to be in the rotation.’ I think that was critical for us to add.” Auburn addressed other needs at linebacker, adding a pair of SEC transfers in DeMario Tolan (LSU) and Austin Keys (Ole Miss), as well as at the offensive skill positions. The Tigers added Cincinnati wide receiver transfer Nick Mardner (who previously played for position coach Marcus Davis at Hawaii in 2021), South Florida running back transfer Brian Battie (a consensus All-America return specialist in 2021) and Fairweather, the former FIU tight end. According to Roberts, there were days when Auburn wasn’t sure it was going to get any big wins in the transfer portal. By the time the window closed, the Tigers got 12 of them, even if there were some misses along the way. RELATED: Auburn coaches want to assess trio of returning QBs, adapt offense to their strengths during spring “That was wild,” Williams said of the transfer window. “I mean, each and every day — it’s a transfer guy in here, it’s just coming like hotcakes. It was something that, at times, was very, very tiring, but it was part of the job, and we know that to flip this roster like that, it’s what we were going to have to do and within the guidelines of where we had an opportunity to really get some guys in here to get us headed in the right direction. “It was a crazy time, but man, I thought as coaches — for us not really knowing each other, and working together, I thought it was an absolutely awesome job that the staff and Coach Freeze have done in a short period of time.” There are still some roster needs for Auburn to address during the May transfer window, with Freeze potentially still looking to add a quarterback from the portal, as well as a need for more depth off the edge. While Auburn will surely regret not capitalizing more on a historically deep class of in-state talent in 2023, it’s difficult to not acknowledge just how much ground Auburn has been able to make up on the recruiting front since the end of Harsin’s tenure. “I’m not really surprised because I saw the first day Coach Freeze got the job, he hit the ground recruiting,” Etheridge said. “…I’m not surprised by any means about what we’ve been able to do and really excited about what the future holds in terms of once we get a full calendar year to go recruit as his staff, things are going to be really exciting to see.” Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group.

The one thing Nate Oats knows ‘for sure’ Alabama will see Saturday from Auburn Updated: Feb. 09, 2023, 9:20 a.m.|Published: Feb. 09, 2023, 9:20 a.m. 3–4 minutes Brandon Miller drops 24; No. 3 Alabama dominates Florida HIGHLIGHTS As the clock in Coleman Coliseum approached 11 p.m. CT less than a hour after Alabama’s Wednesday night blowout win over Florida, it was already time for Nate Oats to turn the page to Auburn. “They’ve got a 24-hour head start on us,” Oats said of the Tigers, which lost Tuesday night at Texas A&M. “I’m gonna cut this thing short here and get to studying some Auburn film, because we’ve got some catch-up work to do here.” The Tide’s annual home-and-home with its rival falls late on the calendar this year, with Saturday’s meeting in Neville Arena to be followed by a rematch March 1 in Coleman Coliseum. Alabama’s arrival in Auburn will be greeted by College Gameday and an ESPN broadcast as Auburn tries to knock off the third-ranked Tide, which remains undefeated in the SEC at 11-0. “I’ve seen them play enough,” Oats said Wednesday. “I haven’t in-depth and studied them. I’ve seen them play other teams that we’ve been scouting. One thing I know for sure is they’re going to play as hard as a team play all year at their place. And their crowd is going to be really into it. They’ve got an unbelievable atmosphere to play games in. “They’ve got a good team that’s going to play really hard, that’s really well-coached, so it’s going to be a tough road game for us.” Oats is 3-3 against Auburn since taking over as Alabama’s coach in 2019. Auburn swept the series last year after Alabama won both games the season prior on its way to an SEC title. During Oats’ first season, his unranked Tide knocked off then-No. 4 Auburn in Tuscaloosa before falling in overtime across the state. “It’s become a top-25 game,” Oats said. “[Bruce Pearl] has done an unbelievable job. The year before I got here, he was in the Final Four. Last year’s team was unbelievable. This year’s team, he’s competing with everybody. They’re one of the best teams in this league, and he lost a lot from last year. “They will 100 percent be ready for us. We all know that.” Auburn was not ranked in either major poll this week, with its absence from the Associated Press top-25 ending a program-record streak. Alabama is No. 3 in this week’s AP poll, receiving at least one first-place vote for the second time over the past three weeks. And although former Auburn star Charles Barkley does not have a vote, he offered his take on Alabama’s place in college basketball last month. “Alabama’s the best team in the country, honestly,” Barkley said Jan. 18 on Next Round Live. Alabama has included Barkley’s comment in its pregame hype video it plays before player introductions in Coleman Coliseum the home games since. Alabama rose to No. 2 in NET ranking Thursday, its highest of all-time. Tennessee had held that spot since Jan. 2 until its loss Wednesday night to Vanderbilt. Auburn is No. 32 in NET. In ESPN’s latest bracket projections for the NCAA tournament, Alabama is a projected No. 1 seed and Auburn is predicted to receive a No. 9 seed. Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.

Bruce Pearl: Brandon Miller's impact akin to Jabari Smith's last season Published: Feb. 09, 2023, 3:51 p.m. 5–6 minutes Bruce Pearl can’t help but think about last season’s Auburn team when he looks across the state at the Tigers’ biggest rival. No. 3 Alabama is in the middle of its own historic season — one that continues Saturday with a 1 p.m. showdown between the cross-state programs at Neville Arena — and it’s being led by an elite freshman forward and soon-to-be NBA lottery pick, no less. Sound familiar? “The kind of year (Brandon Miller)’s having for Alabama reminds you so much of the kind of year that Jabari (Smith) had for us,” Pearl said Thursday afternoon. Read more Auburn sports: Why Cadillac Williams was ‘ecstatic’ Auburn landed USF running back transfer Brian Battie The one thing Nate Oats knows “for sure” Alabama will see from Auburn this weekend “That was wild”: How Auburn climbed the 2023 recruiting rankings after late-season coaching change Brandon Miller has been the centerpiece of the Tide’s success this season. The five-star freshman, who was the No. 14 overall player in the 2022 class, has lived up to the expectations in his first, and surely only, season of college ball. The 6-foot-9 forward leads the SEC in scoring at 19 points per game while shooting at a 45.7 percent clip. That includes 44.4 percent from 3-point range, which is tops in the league and tied for ninth in the country this season. Miller is also fourth in the conference in rebounding at 8.2 boards per game, and he has scored in double figures in 23 of Alabama’s 24 games this season, including all 11 games in SEC play. The one time he didn’t break double figures, he was held to eight points on 0-of-8 shooting in Alabama’s win against then-No. 1 Houston in December. Miller’s prodigious freshman season has helped Alabama to a No. 3 national ranking in the AP poll and No. 2 in NET rankings. The Tide are undefeated in SEC play and atop the conference standings while defeating league opponents by an average of 22.3 points per game. “He is a great player,” Auburn center Dylan Cardwell said of Miller. “I’m just very intrigued in his shots. Very efficient player. Doesn’t really have that many games where he’s in single-digit scoring. I think he’s one of the only players in the SEC, one of two only players to score double digits in all SEC games. So, I know he’s a heck of a scorer and a heck of a competitor, and he’s the life of that team, and I’ve been very impressed with his 3-point shooting.” It’s easy to see why Pearl likened Miller’s impact for the Tide to that of Smith’s last season for the Tigers. Behind Smith, Auburn earned the program’s first-ever No. 1 ranking and went wire-to-wire atop the SEC standings before earning a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Smith, the National Freshman of the Year and Auburn’s second-ever consensus All-American, averaged a team-leading 16.9 points on 42.9 percent shooting, including 42 percent from deep, last season while chipping in 7.4 rebounds and two assists per game. “(Miller) can score on all three levels,” Pearl said. “He may have been 6-7 in high school, (but) he’s legitimately 6-9 now, and he’s a 6-9 two-guard. He presents just enormous challenges as far as how you guard them and whether you can switch or not, because he’ll take advantage. He’ll just take advantage of matchups.” Pearl, like many coaches, attempted to land Miller at his program. Auburn even hosted him on an official visit back in June 2021, but it was an admittedly uphill battle for Pearl and his staff considering Miller’s father, Darrell Miller, played tight end at Alabama in the 1990s for coach Gene Stallings. “He’s a great, great player, great talent, great kid, great family,” Pearl said. “…We just couldn’t break that Roll Tide. Dad played football (at Alabama), just you know, and (we) thought he was actually going to go pro.” Miller, of course, didn’t go the professional route out of high school and instead signed with Nate Oats’ program. Now Pearl and Auburn will get their first of two regular-season looks at the freshman phenom when Alabama visits the Plains on Saturday afternoon. “He is a talented freshman,” Auburn center Johni Broome said. “He is very skilled. He can score at the basket…He is deadly from 3-point range. He is a good player, but we have just got to pressure him. Don’t let him get the open looks — make all of his shots tough, and I think we will be fine.” Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

Why Cadillac Williams was 'ecstatic' Auburn landed USF transfer RB Brian Battie Published: Feb. 09, 2023, 11:51 a.m. 6–7 minutes Brian Battie wasn’t on Cadillac Williams’ radar until Philip Montgomery planted a seed during an early film session among Auburn’s new offensive assistants. Before Battie, the former South Florida running back, hit the portal, Montgomery and Williams were studying film when the former Tulsa head coach recalled one of the best individual performances against his team last season. In Tulsa’s 48-42 win against USF on Nov. 18, Battie rushed for 169 yards while averaging 8.89 yards per carry. It was the highest individual rushing performance surrendered by Tulsa’s defense last season. “Cadillac, South Florida’s got a running back that’s tough,” Williams recalled Montgomery saying. Read more Auburn football: Now colleagues at Auburn, Josh Aldridge “copy and pasted” Ron Roberts’ Baylor defense while at Liberty last season “That was wild”: How Auburn climbed the 2023 recruiting rankings after late-season coaching change Zac Etheridge, Wesley McGriff excited about Auburn secondary that returns every key piece in 2023 Williams took note and filed it away in the back of his mind. Auburn’s running back room was in need of another option; it was returning Jarquez Hunter and a less-experienced piece in Damari Alston while bringing in four-star 2023 signee Jeremiah Cobb, but the Tigers wanted more depth after leading rusher Tank Bigsby declared for the NFL Draft. The only problem? At the time, Battie wasn’t in the transfer portal. That changed on Jan. 6, when Battie opted to transfer from USF after three productive seasons, including a consensus All-America nod as a return specialist in 2021 and a 1,000-yard campaign in 2022. Williams perked up as soon as he saw Battie’s name in the portal, recalling Montgomery’s earlier mention of the 5-foot-8, 165-pounder. “To have a guy like him jump in there, I was ecstatic,” Williams said. “So, (I) got an opportunity to cut on his film, and his film speaks for itself.” It’s not every day a program has an opportunity to bring in a former All-American through the transfer market, and Williams was thoroughly impressed with what he saw from Battie during his time at South Florida in the various roles he played. There was of course the 1,186 rushing yards last fall, when Battie averaged 6.7 yards per carry—the 20th-best mark among FBS running backs in 2022. His 98.83 rushing yards per game ranked 23rd among all qualifying players in the country. He had seven 100-yard performances as a junior, including five in a row to close out the year, and has nine for his career. Then there was Battie’s prowess in the return game, where he established himself as one of the nation’s most dangerous special teams weapons the last two seasons. Battie was a consensus All-American in 2021 while averaging 32.5 yards per kickoff return (sixth-best in the nation) and returning an FBS-leading three of them for touchdowns. He followed it up by averaging 20 yards per return last season while juggling those responsibilities with a featured role in the Bulls’ backfield. For his career, he averaged 24.2 yards per kick return. “Whenever you turn on (film) — first of all, the speed, the explosiveness, but I love the fact that the first guy, he either made him miss or broke the tackle,” Williams said. “The first guy is never going to bring him down or tackle him. He always—also, he’s a smaller guy, but he’s a natural runner between the tackles. He’s a running back. He’s a football player. He’s a guy that understands leverage and angles, a guy that’s going to break tackles, and he’s strong, and he’s very competitive, and he wants to be one of the best. We are getting a complete back that I think can do it all.” What really stood out to Williams about Battie’s film, though, was how he performed when given the opportunity to face SEC competition. South Florida traveled to Florida last September to take on the Gators in The Swamp, and Battie turned in one of the best games of his career. He rushed for 150 yards — at the time a career high, and by the end of the year the second-best mark of his career — and a touchdown while averaging 8.82 yards per carry. On the road. Against an SEC defense. “If you turn on the Florida game and you watch him run the football, and again, I’m going to keep saying, he’s not a scatback… he’s a guy that you can run between the tackles,” Williams said. “He’s a guy that understands leverage and angles. He’s a guy that’s going to break tackles, as small as he is. He’s a guy that’s going to break tackles. He’s got superior vision, will stick his foot in the ground, you know, explosive guy. Man, he’s a guy that’s dynamic, man, that I know Coach Freeze and Coach Montgomery are waiting to see everything he can do and how we can utilize his talent.” But first, Auburn had to acquire that talent. As soon as Battie hit the portal, Williams—whose NFL career was largely spent in Tampa, Fla.—used his local connections to find out more about Battie. Combined with the efforts of defensive intern Ty Holder, Auburn was able to get in touch with Battie and quickly arrange a visit to campus just two days after his name appeared in the transfer portal. A day later, Battie committed to Auburn, providing the backfield with a veteran piece to pair alongside Hunter and a potential impact player on special teams. “He gets to come here and have an opportunity to define his role and play big-boy ball,” Williams said. “…I’m excited about Brian. I thank God for us having the opportunity to get him and him choosing Auburn.” Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

Now at Auburn, Josh Aldridge copied Ron Roberts' defense while at Liberty Published: Feb. 09, 2023, 7:05 a.m. 6–7 minutes Before Josh Aldridge and Ron Roberts became colleagues on Hugh Freeze’s staff at Auburn, Aldridge already had a pretty good feel for Roberts’ defensive scheme. After three years as Liberty’s defensive line coach under Freeze, Aldridge was promoted to the Flames’ defensive coordinator last season while also serving as linebackers coach. As he put together his vision for how he wanted Liberty’s defense to look under his watch, Aldridge drew inspiration from what Roberts was doing defensively at Baylor. Read more Auburn football: “That was wild”: How Auburn climbed the 2023 recruiting rankings after late-season coaching change Zac Etheridge, Wesley McGriff excited about Auburn secondary that returns every key piece in 2023 Six Auburn players, one former Tiger receive NFL Combine invites “We played a really tough schedule last year at Liberty, and I knew we needed to be aggressive and switched a few things, and the defense I studied was Baylor, actually,” Aldridge said last week. “I actually copy and pasted Baylor’s defense basically.” Why Aldridge was drawn to Roberts’ system is understandable. Roberts is one of the most well-respected defensive minds in the sport, and his coaching tree has helped produce the likes of Baylor head coach Dave Aranda, Ole Miss (and former Alabama) defensive coordinator Pete Golding, Cincinnati defensive coordinator Bryan Brown and Florida defensive coordinator Patrick Toney, among others. That’s to say nothing of the success he had at Baylor in 2021, the season immediately preceding Aldridge’s promotion at Liberty. Roberts helped Baylor produce a top-10 scoring defense that season, limiting opponents to 18.3 points per game in a conference — the Big 12 — that’s known for its prolific offenses. The Bears were also 28th nationally that season in yards allowed per play (5.15), and they produced one of the highest havoc rates in the nation (27 percent) while ranking fifth in sacks (44), seventh in tackles for loss (104), third in interceptions (19), 28th in pass breakups (48) and seventh in turnovers forced (27). “When you turn his defense on, I don’t think you can say, ‘They’re a this; they’re a that,’” Aldridge said. “He’s got a lot of answers on how to attack people week-to-week based on the offense you face, which is great in this league because in this league you’re going to face teams that throw it 60 times, all the way to the Alabamas and Georgias, that’ll have three tight ends on the field. I think that’s what makes a great coordinator on defense. You’ve got to have a big enough toolbox to have answers.” In attempting to emulate Roberts’ system at Liberty, Aldridge added support staffers and off-field assistants who already had familiarity with that scheme. The results at Liberty, albeit against a lighter schedule than the one he’ll be seeing at Auburn, were promising. While the Flames were 53rd nationally in scoring defense last season (24.6 points per game), they were a top-20 unit in terms of yards allowed per play (4.96) while leading the nation in tackles for loss (121), finishing third in sacks (45) and ranking top-15 in takeaways (24). When Freeze accepted the Auburn job in late November, Aldridge took over as Liberty’s interim head coach for the team’s bowl game. As Freeze worked to put together his inaugural staff on the Plains, Aldridge had a pretty good indication of who he was going to target as defensive coordinator — Roberts, who was on the market after being let go at Baylor, where the Bears took a step back defensively in 2022. That’s why, when Freeze approached Aldridge about serving as a position coach for the Tigers, he jumped at the opportunity — even if it meant no longer calling plays on defense. “That really sealed the deal for me about me wanting to come here and learn from him,” Aldridge said. “He’s one of the best minds in college football, and it’s going to be really neat for me to be with him this year.” Now Aldridge will have a chance to see how Roberts operates firsthand. Roberts will serve as Auburn’s defensive coordinator in 2023, while Aldridge is the Tigers’ linebackers coach. Following a rigorous push on the recruiting front over the last two months, Roberts and Aldridge—as well as the rest of the defensive staff—finally had their first meetings last week when it comes to X’s and O’s and what Auburn wants to accomplish as spring rapidly approaches. While they’re still in “the beginning stages” of figuring all that out, Roberts and Aldridge have discussed what they look for at each linebacker position as they prepare to do a full assessment of Auburn’s returning personnel and newcomers. “We can go into it and say, ‘In the past, this type of style of a player has done well at MIKE; this one’s done well at WILL,’” Aldridge said. “But this staff on defense, especially, we’re not going into the spring saying ‘This is who we are and this that and the other.’ We’re really more so getting out there and seeing what our guys are good at and having enough confidence in ourselves as coaches to run the scheme that’ll put them in a position to make plays. “We don’t ever want to handcuff our guys into being in a system that they don’t fit in, right? Especially in today’s climate, where your roster might flip a little bit, or being a new staff, you need to be a good enough coach to tailor your defense to what they’re good at and not vice versa.” Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

Reunited with Marcus Davis, Nick Mardner 'wanted a challenge' at Auburn Nathan King 3–4 minutes Auburn clearly needed at least one transfer receiver after the first portal window opened. Marcus Davis knew exactly who to call. Arguably the best player Auburn’s new receivers coach has had in his two seasons as an assistant coach, Nick Mardner had been in the portal for 20 days before Davis was hired at Auburn. A couple weeks later, Davis got his former wideout on campus. A commitment only took a couple more days. “The conversation was that he wanted a challenge for himself,” Davis said last week. “It was a conversation — this place means a lot to me, so it had to be the right fit and the right person. I think he checked all those boxes, and that's what was more of the conversation than anything.” When Davis took over at Hawaii in 2021 — his first full-time assistant job after off-field positions at Auburn and Florida State — he inherited an athletic wideout with an impressive frame. Mardner had been used sparingly the previous season, but Davis saw his potential as a lead receiver in the Warriors’ offense. Their marriage resulted in Mardner posting 913 yards, just under 20 yards per catch and five touchdowns through the air. He had three 100-yard performances on the year. Davis also coached a prolific one-two punch in the passing game, with Calvin Turner totaling 876 yards and four touchdowns. Mardner transferred to Cincinnati last year and was the Bearcats’ No. 3 receiver, finishing with 218 yards and three scores. “I'm looking forward to it,” Davis said. “The biggest thing I would say is he's a guy who brings a combination of size and speed. He's every bit of 6-5, and he can run. That's something he definitely can bring to the room.” If Auburn ends up listing Mardner at 6-foot-5, like Davis said, on its spring roster, he’ll be the team’s tallest receiver since Anthony Mix (6-foot-5 and 248 pounds) in 2005. Originally from Ontario, Canada, Mardner graduated from Cincinnati, and to reunite with his former coach for his final season of eligibility just made too much sense. "He’s like family," Mardner said after his visit to Auburn. "We were tied back to Hawaii in ‘21 and he was a big part of my development. I think I played my best ball with him.” Auburn plucked Davis, who played receiver for the Tigers from 2013-16, after one season coaching the position at Georgia Southern. He helped the Eagles post a top-5 passing game in college football, and his receiving corps had three players go for at least 700 yards. Auburn’s receivers have been one of the program’s more inconsistent positions over the past couple seasons, though the group returns every player from its primary rotation last year. “We've got other guys in the room that can do some things, as well, that probably didn't have the opportunity,” Davis said. “The biggest thing for me is getting everybody together, getting them on the same page — because competition is going to bring the best out in everybody.”

theguardian.com Missouri votes against banning children from carrying guns in public ~3 minutes The Republican-led Missouri state house on Wednesday voted against banning minors from openly carrying firearms on public land without adult supervision. The proposal to ban children from carrying guns without adult supervision in public failed by a 104-39 vote. Only one Republican voted in support. A Democrat, Donna Baringer, said police in her district asked for the change to stop “14-year-olds walking down the middle of the street in the city of St Louis carrying AR-15s”. “Now they have been emboldened, and they are walking around with them,” Baringer said. “Until they actually brandish them, and brandish them with intent, our police officers’ hands are handcuffed.” In 2017, Missouri lawmakers repealed concealed carry requirements in most situations. The measure was part of an hours-long debate on the best way to fight crime, particularly in the St Louis area. The Republican Lane Roberts – a former Joplin, Missouri, police chief and state public safety director – initially included the restrictions on children possessing guns in a broader crime bill, which the House voted to give initial approval. But lawmakers on a House committee that Roberts leads stripped the provision on guns last week. “Every time we talked about the provision related to guns, we knew that that was going to be difficult on our side of the aisle,” Roberts said. Republicans decried the effort as an unneeded infringement on gun rights. “While it may be intuitive that a 14-year-old has no legitimate purpose, it doesn’t actually mean that they’re going to harm someone. We don’t know that yet,” said Tony Lovasco, a Republican from the St Louis suburb of O’Fallon. “Generally speaking, we don’t charge people with crimes because we think they’re going to hurt someone.” Other provisions in the measure would allow the governor to appoint a special prosecutor in counties with high crime rates, a provision targeted at the St Louis circuit attorney Kim Gardner. Republicans for years have criticized Gardner, a 47-year-old Democrat first elected in 2016 as St Louis’s first Black female prosecutor. She is one of several progressive prosecutors elected in recent years with a focus on creating more fairness in the criminal justice system. Republicans say she is not doing enough to fight crime.

yahoo.com House Republicans’ Hunter Biden Probe Begins With a Thud Jarrell Dillard and Billy House 6–8 minutes (Bloomberg) -- House Republicans failed in the opening salvo of their investigation into the finances of Joe Biden’s family to produce evidence substantiating their claims that US intelligence officials worked with Twitter Inc. to suppress an unflattering 2020 news story on the president’s son. Most Read from Bloomberg Meta Asks Many Managers to Get Back to Making Things or Leave George Santos Gets Into Fight With Mitt Romney at State of the Union Debut Chinese Balloon Was Part of Years-Long Spying Program, US Says DeSantis Chides Trump as Republicans’ 2024 Presidential Race Heats Up Commodity Trader Trafigura Faces $577 Million Loss After Uncovering Nickel Fraud Former Twitter Inc. officials testified Wednesday that their decision to limit the spread of the New York Post story about Hunter Biden’s now-infamous laptop and his overseas business dealings was, in hindsight, a mistake. But they said they weren’t directed by the FBI or other US intelligence officials, and the action wasn’t politically motivated. Many of the documents Republicans displayed at the House Oversight hearing were from the so-called “Twitter Files,” a series of reports shared by journalists who were invited by Elon Musk to examine Twitter’s handling of controversial decisions made under the company’s previous leaders. The first installment of the Twitter Files focused on the company’s treatment of the New York Post story. Musk gave the journalists access to company emails and Slack messages, and many of those messages were then published on Twitter. Most of the reports suggest without evidence that Twitter made decisions based on demands or pressure from the FBI and the Biden campaign. “I think you guys wanted to take it down,” House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, who also sits on the Oversight committee, said of the story, which was published just weeks before the 2020 election that then-President Donald Trump lost to Biden. “I think you got played by the FBI.” Republicans repeatedly asked witnesses to recall years-old emails, the contents of which the former employees said they no longer have access to and do not recall the details. At one point, the power in the room went out and the panel had to recess, stretching the hearing into the afternoon. James Baker, a former lawyer for Twitter who also previously worked for the FBI, said he didn’t act “as an agent or an operator of the government” while working for the social media company. Baker said the company’s actions were “fully consistent with the First Amendment.” “I am aware of no unlawful collusion with, or direction from, any government agency or political campaign on how Twitter should have handled the Hunter Biden laptop situation,” Baker told the panel. Committee chair James Comer and other Republicans asserted that the FBI advised senior Twitter executives to question the validity of any Hunter Biden story. Comer also alleged that the federal government used a private company “to accomplish what it constitutionally cannot: limit the free exercise of speech.” Why Hunter Biden Is Back in the News From Washington: QuickTake The New York Post had claimed that information from Hunter Biden’s laptop showed he introduced a top executive from Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, to his father while he was vice president and overseeing the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy. Hunter Biden also served on Burisma’s board. At the close of the nearly six-hour hearing, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the committee, said the testimony underscored that there was no “state action” or direction by FBI or any other government entity that led Twitter to block access to the story. “Means this has been a wild cyber-goose chase, all day,” Raskin said. But Comer countered by saying, “I think this was a successful hearing.” The laptop contains evidence “that should concern every American about potential corruption as well as evidence that would suggest there’s a possibility this administration could be compromised,” Comer said. “We believe it’s worth investigating, and security is important.” Vijaya Gadde, a former top lawyer at Twitter, testified that when the New York Post first tweeted articles about Hunter Biden’s laptop, some of images or information “looked like they may have been obtained through hacking.” Gadde said the company applied its 2018 policy to prevent Twitter from being a “dumping ground for hacked materials” and blocked links to articles embedding the source materials. Twitter, she said, reversed course within 24 hours and should have acted sooner. But “at no point did Twitter otherwise prevent tweeting, reporting, discussing or describing the contents of Mr. Biden’s laptop,” she said. The former officials’ testimony didn’t sit well with Republicans. “You exercised an amazing amount of clout and power over the American electorate,” Republican Andy Biggs said, even if just for a short period. The witnesses did acknowledge regular meetings with law enforcement in the months ahead of the 2020 election, but those were focused on worries about foreign interference and misuse of social media. Florida Democrat Jared Moskowitz demanded that his Republican counterparts produce evidence. “Why haven’t we seen the hard drive?” he asked of Hunter Biden’s laptop. “Why don’t you share it with the American people?” Some of the GOP questions were far-ranging and combative — including complaints from Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene that her own personal Twitter account had been shut down after warnings. Representative Nancy Mace focused on Twitter suppression of Covid-19 information that questioned guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The president is focused on ending junk fees to lower Americans’ costs, but the House GOP is focused on starting junk hearings that raise questions about their own credibility,” White House spokesperson Ian Sams said. Midway through the hearing, the White House brushed it off completely. “It’s happening today?” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. --With assistance from Jordan Fabian and Kurt Wagner. (Adds quotes from hearing beginning in 11th paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek