THE SCOOP
Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs will discuss a new contract, and a likely raise, for coach Gus Malzahn after the season.
“All Gus is thinking about is Missouri,” Jacobs said. “When the season’s over, he and I will sit down and talk about things, and certainly we want Gus to be here at Auburn as long as he wants to be. It’s been phenomenal what he’s done this year, and we certainly want to make sure that he’s adequately compensated for similar coaches (in the SEC).”
Auburn gave Malzahn, who has led the biggest turnaround in college football, a five-year deal worth $2.3 million annually after his hiring in December 2012.
Alabama’s Nick Saban currently makes $5.6 million a year and LSU pays Les Miles $4.3 million annually. Texas A&M just gave Kevin Sumlin a raise to just more than $5M a year.
‘THE’ BALL
Auburn has gained possession of a football owned by Alabama that’s probably worth $50,000 now and may be valued at $100,000 if the Tigers win the BCS championship.
You know which football this is.
It’s the one that was in the hands of Auburn’s Chris Davis, who returned a missed field-goal attempt 109 yards for a touchdown with no time on the clock in a miracle win over Alabama on Saturday.
Technically, Alabama owns the ball because in the SEC, just like the rest of the college football, teams use their own footballs on offense, including field goals.
During the celebration when fans rushed the field, an Auburn ball boy gained possession of the ball, according to Bloomberg.com.
Although Alabama owns the ball, a school spokesman told the website that, “I don’t think they would try to get the ball back.”
One sports memorabilia owner told Bloomberg that the football is worth around $50,000, but could push to $100,000.
An Auburn spokesman tweeted that the ball will be displayed at the school’s athletic museum.
INJURIES
Quarterback Zach Mettenberger of Watkinsville will miss LSU’s bowl game after suffering a season-ending torn ACL knee injury in Friday’s victory against Arkansas. Mettenberger is the third player in LSU history to throw for 3,000 yards in a season and the only player in school history to throw for 2,500 or more yards in back-to-back seasons. Freshman Anthony Jennings of Marietta, who threw the game-winning touchdown pass against Arkansas, will assume the starter’s role.
BCS CHATTER
ESPN’s BCS expert Brad Edwards told reporters on a conference call that he expects the SEC Championship game winner to advance to the BCS game — should either Florida State lose in the ACC title game or Ohio State lose in the Big Ten title game. There was some question about whether Alabama might jump back into the BCS mix if Missouri were to beat Auburn for the SEC title.
“I know people are looking at Alabama right now one spot ahead of Missouri in the BCS standings. … That’s a pretty small margin that Alabama leads Missouri by right now. Even if the (human) polls didn’t move them at all, the computers would do enough to put them past Alabama.”
