Link sAUsage -- March 20, 2012

Auburn has released its spring football practice schedule. The Tigers will be going to work during mornings, so Auburn fans should be able to catch up with the goings on during their lunch breaks.

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With the hiring of defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder, many Auburn fans have pretty high expectations for the Tigers defense this year. Should those expectations be tempered? Maybe so.

Speaking of expectations? What are realistic expectations for the offense under new coordinator Scot Loeffler?

In this ranking of SEC quarterbacks, Auburn's Kiehl Frazier is, unsurprisingly, near the bottom of the barrel. We can't really argue with that, considering what he did with his few passing attempts last season. Here's to hoping Frazier finds his name near the top of the list when the postseason QB rankings come out.

Auburn gymnast Laura Lane was recently named to the SEC community service team. She's the third Tiger in three years to receive the honor.

No. 14 Auburn Gymnastics Wins Final Regular-Season Meet

The 14th-ranked Auburn gymnastics team tumbled to victory in front of a sparse spring break crowd Friday night at Auburn Arena, defeating BYU 195.950-192.575. The meet closed out the regular season for the Tiger gymnasts and improved their record to 7-10.

Friday night was also the last home meet for seven Auburn seniors. Justine Foster, Kareen Kaveh, Laura Lane, Allison Sandusky, Kylie Shields, Kendall Schwartz and Leah Vining were recognized along with their parents for their commitment and dedication to the team for the past four years.  

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Link sAUsage -- March 15, 2012

Remember Ben Grubbs, the former Auburn offensive guard? He just signed a five-year, $30 million deal with the New Orleans Saints. We can't confirm or deny whether or not he'll forget to block on running plays designed for Mark Ingram.

The NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships open today at one of the sport's greatest powerhouses -- Auburn University. A win would give the Auburn women their sixth title in 10 years and first since 2007.

This is a couple of days old, but if you've ever wondered about the namesakes for the Paul Lambert and Tommy Joe Eagles Memorial Trophy, here's a little background information.

Harvey Updyke's trial has been postponed again, because, apparently, it's incredibly difficult to put together a defense for a tree-poisoner.

Men's tennis player Alex Samchev picked up SEC player of the week honors for his performances against Arkansas and LSU last weekend. 

Women's tennis, ranked No. 62, came up short in a home match against No. 25 Georgia Tech on Wednesday afternoon.

The 14th-ranked Auburn gymnastics team hosts its final home meet of the year Friday night against BYU. The Tigers are looking for their second home win of the season. (Two home wins and Auburn is ranked No. 14? We don't fully understand all the ins and outs of college gymnastics, but that's why we're thankful to have @LaurnSmith.)

Gymnasts Score First Home Win in Annual "Pink Meet"

The Auburn gymnastics team returned home after a week on the road to host Southern Utah in the annual "Pink Meet" on Friday night. The "Pink Meet" is a yearly event that most gymnastics teams participate in across the country to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. Both teams shed their usual team colors to don pink leotards for the event.  

No. 15 Auburn came into this meet off of a second place finish in a tri-meet against Kentucky and Pittsburgh last week. The Tigers posted a solid road score last week of 195.525 but were looking to post a big home score in order to boost their Regional Qualifying Score (RQS).  

Scoring reminder: In gymnastics, six gymnasts compete on each event, and the lowest score is dropped. The remaining five scores combine to create the team score on each event. Teams typically aim to score above a 49 on each event -- the higher the score over at 49, the better.

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Link sAUsage -- Feb. 27, 2012

It was a busy weekend for Auburn athletics. Let's take a look at what happened:

Auburn's two representatives at the NFL Combine turned in impressive workouts on Saturday. 

Auburn held its Junior Day over the weekend, and the Tigers picked up a commitment from in-state, 4-star wide receiver Earnest Robinson. Auburn and its coaching staff came off as very impressive to many of the prospects in attendance.

Who might benefit from the college football kickoff rules? Hmm. Looking at that list of qualifications, Auburn just might be the team that benefits the most.

In case you missed it over on his home site, College and Magnolia contributor Ross Collings analyzes some of the biggest questions Auburn has going into spring football practice.

Link sAUsage -- Feb. 24, 2012

The Nell Fortner Farewell Tour began Thursday night, and Auburn tipped it off with a bang. The Tigers put an absolute beat-down on Alabama, scoring an 81-40 victory. We know the Alabama women's basketball program is bad, but we didn't know that it's this bad. If you don't know why every Auburn fan should love Fortner, this will help you out.

The NCAA approved football rule changes aimed at protecting player safety. Among the new rules: kickoffs will be moved from the 30-yard line to the 35, and kickoff touchbacks will be moved from the 20 to the 25. (Touchbacks on punts, fumbles and interceptions will still come out to the 20.) If Cody Parkey can find a way to kick the ball a mile into the air, instead of a mile downfield, Auburn could be pinning opposing teams inside their own 5 all season long.

It's been a little over three weeks since National Signing Day, so it's obviously time to start thinking about recruiting again. Auburn hosts some of the top players in the country at Junior Day this weekend. The Tigers expect around 60 prospects to show up.

An update on some injured Auburn basketball players: Kenny Gabriel is still recovering from his lower back injury suffered against Florida but is expected to play against Arkansas on Saturday. Chris Denson's knee seems to be fine, and he'll definitely be in the lineup. Josh Langford is still experiencing concussion symptoms and isn't expected to play against the Hogs.

The 14th-ranked men's tennis team is in Montgomery for the Blue-Gray Classic. Live results for today's, Saturday's and Sunday's matches can be found here, here and here.

Fresh off its second-best-ever performance, No. 15 Auburn gymnastics heads to Lexington, Ky., tonight to take on Kentucky and Pitt in a tri-meet.

The second-ranked men's golf team will be in Palm Desert, Calif., this weekend for the University of Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate. The No. 3 women's team begins play at the Sugar Bowl Invitational in New Orleans on Sunday.

The top-ranked equestrian team makes its first road trip of the season, heading to Blythewood, S.C., to take on No. 5 South Carolina on Saturday.

 

Link sAUsage -- Feb. 23, 2012

Of all the Division I schools in the state of Alabama, Auburn was the only one to vote in favor of multi-year scholarships. Head football coach Gene Chizik announced on signing day that the Tigers' new enrollees would be signing four-year scholarships.

Women's basketball coach Nell Fortner, who announced that she will resign at the end of the season on Tuesday, begins her farewell tour tonight against Alabama at Auburn Arena. Considering how much Fortner has done for Auburn during her time on the Plains, she deserves a packed house tonight.

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer beat writer Joel Erickson has a couple of Auburn NFL Combine profiles: Brandon Mosley and Josh Harris. Moseley and Harris are Auburn's only combine representatives this year. A.J. Greene was invited to the combine but recently decided to call it a career due to injuries.

Tigers baseball stole its way to a two-game sweep of Alcorn State on Wednesday. Auburn ended the 7-1 win with eight stolen bases and currently leads the SEC in that category. That's quite a philosophical change from the long-ball days of 2010.

Auburn hits the road for Tucson, Ariz., for a tough weekend series against No. 20 Arizona. A series win would be a very nice recovery from dropping the season-opening series against Missouri.

The Auburn softball team stayed hot on Wednesday, hitting four home runs in a 9-1 victory over Georgia State. The Tigers are now 9-0 on the young season and travel to Boca Raton, Fla., this weekend to compete in the Florida Atlantic Tournament.

For a very brief period of time between its transformation from Cliff Hare Stadium to Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn's football home was, simply, Hare Stadium. Also, it's amazing how much the stadium has changed in nearly 40 years.

You've seen Cam Newton's SWAGTASTIC new Under Armour commercial. Now, check out the behind-the-scenes footage.

The idea of anything other than white helmets for Auburn's football team makes many, including this writer, shudder. We can't imagine how difficult it would have been to watch the Tigers during the 1950 season.

Speaking of uniform changes, Missouri recently announced that, in honor of joining the world's foremost athletic conference, the school will be undergoing a design overhaul. The new uniforms won't be released until April 14, but some obsessive has already created a blog dedicated to speculation on Mizzou's new threads.

Auburn gymnast Bri Guy was named SEC freshman of the week for her performance against Florida last Friday. Guy totaled 39.550 in the all-around competition, the third-best score in Auburn history.

Men's and women's track and field travel to Lexington, Ky., for the SEC Indoor Championships, set to begin on Friday.

 

Link sAUsage -- Feb. 20, 2012

Harvey Updyke's attorney says stuff that will likely make your blood boil. Updyke's trial for allegedly poisoning the Toomer's oaks is set to begin on March 5. Just remeber, despite what those in Tuscaloosa will try to tell you, THIS IS ALABAMA FOOTBALL.

In other Auburn/legal-related news, the attorney for former Auburn DB Mike McNeil has argued to suppress evidence in McNeil's upcoming armed robbery case. That trial, too, is tentatively set to begin March 5.

Birmingham News columnist Jon Soloman takes a look at the state of college basketbal in Alabama. Unsuprisingly, the results aren't pretty.

What kind of non-conference opponents have SEC teams scheduled in 2012? A few teams will be plying against some real competition -- like Auburn opening against Clemson in Atlanta -- but there are plenty of cupcakes to satisfy the conference's sweet tooth.

If you didn't realize that this past weekend was a pretty big athletic event on the Plains, we aren't really sure why you're reading an Auburn sports blog. But in case you missed any of the results, here's a recap of the All In Weekend:

The Auburn men's basketball team recorded it's biggest win of the Tony Barbee era, upsetting No. 23 Mississippi State at Auburn Arena. Hopefully, the team can use that win as a springboard to a strong finish and build momentum going into next season.

Gymnastics lost at home to No. 2 Florida, but the 17th-ranked Tigers achieved the second-best score in school history.

Men's swimming and diving won its 16th consecutive SEC title and the conference championships in Knoxville. The Auburn women placed a solid fourth.

The top-ranked equestrian team fell to No. 3 Georgia. The teams actually tied, but Georgia won by virtue of more raw points. A tie that is really a loss? That reminds us of the 1994 Auburn-Georgia football game.

Softball had a stellar weekend, beating No. 15 Oklahoma State on Friday and Virginia Tech and No. 23 Georgia Tech on Sunday. The Tigers are now 8-0 and already have recorded two no-hitters on the young season. 

Baseball started strong with a 5-2 win over Missouri on Friday, but the bad Tigers swept Games 2 and 3 on Sunday, knocking the good Tigers to 1-2 on the year. On the bright side, Auburn's Derek Varnadore was named SEBaseball.com's pitcher of the week thanks to his 11 K, one run performance on Friday.

Men's tennis went 1-2 at the ITA Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va. The Tigers defeated Baylor but lost to Virginia and Texas.

Women's basketball dropped to 3-11 in SEC play after a 16-point loss at LSU.