During the course of Auburn’s disastrous 2012 season, the cliché tagline that got thrown around about former Auburn head coach Gene Chizik was as follows: The man never did a damn thing as a head coach without Cam Newton as his quarterback. Between stops at Iowa State and Auburn, Chizik has a record of just 24-33 with anyone other than Newton playing quarterback for him. He was 14-0 with a National Championship when Killa Cam was under center.  

Honestly though, I never really thought that argument was very fair. To say that Chizik never had success without Cam would be to imply that the 2009 and 2011 seasons never happened. They did. Auburn improved by three wins in Chizik’s first year on the Plains (from 5-7 before he got there to 8-5 in 2009) and won eight more games against college football’s toughest schedule in 2011 (all five of the Tigers’ losses were to teams which won at least nine games). That is a credit to Chizik and his staff.  

And it’s that last part- where I mention his “staff”- which is why we are here today, and what I find most interesting about Chizik’s time at Auburn. Because while his ultimate legacy was defined by Cam Newton, his ultimate successes was defined by the three years from 2009-2011. And while the players changed and the coaches changed too during those three years and 30 wins, one thing was consistent: During the only point in Gene Chizik’s career where he had any success, Gus Malzahn was calling plays on offense. Chizik went 30-10 with Malzahn by his side. In two seasons at Iowa State and one at Auburn without him, Chizik went 8-28.  

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(**** Aaron’s Note: For some reason that is unbeknownst to me, the audio from this interview is incredibly choppy. I don’t know why, and do apologize for it.

Please know that I spent a lot of time trying to fix it, and when I couldn’t even figure it out sent it to my good friend, who tried to help out as best he could.

Anyway, I apologize for the low-quality of the audio content, but if you can deal with it, there is actually a lot of good news and information on the SEC Championship Game, Iron Bowl and the future of Auburn football in this podcast.

Hope you’re able to enjoy, and again, I apologize for the low quality of this audio.)

This weekend, there is no bigger game on the national schedule than the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, which as you all know by now has turned into a de-facto National Championship Game semifinal between Alabama and Georgia.

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And as always, my good friend Alex Scarborough from ESPN’s Tide Nation was nice enough to join the show and discuss the big storylines headed into the game, as well as reflect back on the Iron Bowl and look ahead to what’s next for the Auburn football program.

Alex and I touched on a number of topics, including:

- Reflecting back on the Iron Bowl: Was there anything to take away from it for Alabama, and at any point did Crimson Tide fans just feel bad for Auburn?

- Looking back, how bad was Gene Chizik as a head coach? Yes he didn’t win much without Cam Newton, but was he as bad as everyone thought? Also, Alex shares when he believes Chizik lost the locker room and why at that point, it was clear that it was time for Chizik to go.

Early on in his time at Cincinnati, I remember reading a Sports Illustrated profile on former Bearcats and current Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly. The article came out a long time ago and most of the details have long since been lost on me, but there was one that still sticks out. It had to do with the way Kelly handled former Bearcats’ quarterback Tony Pike.

When Kelly arrived at Cincinnati prior to the 2007 season, Pike was buried on the depth chart, the kind of guy who was going through the motions, happy to be along for the ride, and collecting his scholarship money, even if he wasn’t really doing anything to earn it. Well at least Pike was, until one day when Brian Kelly bumped into him and in not so many words, basically told him: “Get the hell out.” That if Pike wasn’t going to start working harder and taking himself more seriously, than Kelly didn’t want him as part of the program anymore.

Well apparently whatever Kelly said worked. Pike eventually went from “buried on the depth chart” to All-Big East first team, and a sixth round draft pick of the Carolina Panthers. Granted, it wasn’t all because of Kelly. But his presence certainly did help.

And really, reading that profile was my “A HA!” moment with Brian Kelly.

Alright folks, so a few hours ago I mentioned that I had a pretty big announcement to make, and since I’m a nice guy and don’t feel like wasting anyone’s time this morning, here goes:

In early December I will be releasing my first ever eBook! It’s tentatively titled “Aaron Torres Presents the Year in Sports 2012” and is a compilation of my best columns and articles from the 2012 calendar year from this website and beyond. Lots of writers of have done similar stuff before (usually in the traditional publishing industry) and I decided to take a stab at it this winter.

There are a couple reasons why.

For one, over the course of the last year, I’ve written… a lot. I’ve written on everything from Alabama’s BCS National Championship, to an emerging Kentucky hoops to dynasty, to the most annoying fans in sports Part’s I and II. Not to mention stuff on Bryce Harper, Anthony Davis and the passing of a man’s best friend. At the end of the day, writing is who I am. It’s what I do every single day of my life, along with eating, sleeping and making bad Charlie Weis jokes.

But at the same time, it’s hard for anyone to keep track of it all, even me. Trust me, I understand that you all have jobs and families and different obligations that take you away from the computer and from the outside world around you. After all, just because I’m a loner who barely leaves his computer doesn’t mean you’re the same, right?

Either way, this eBook is the chance for me to aggregate everything I’ve done, and put it all in one place. This isn’t like Twitter where an article can get lost in the shuffle, and isn’t even like my website where the articles are mixed in with podcasts, interviews and random announcements. This is all my best writing, all in one place, categorized by date and sport to make it easy for you to consume. And for the record, this eBook does consist only of my best writing. You wouldn’t believe how much quality stuff didn’t make cut.

And in addition to the writing, I’ve also gone ahead and added a little update blurb on each article in the book. Heck, half the fun in these articles isn’t the content themselves, but more so how much stuff has changed since then. Like how Bobby Petrino has gone from villain to hero since the day he was fired, or how quickly everyone was ready to re-write history after Kentucky won the National Championship. The point is, a lot has happened in sports in 2012, and I tried to capture it all. Not just in the moment it happened, but also the ramifications since.

As for the specifics of the eBook, the goal is to have it out the first week of December, tentatively on Wednesday, December 5. Hopefully by then you’ll have some of your Christmas shopping done, and will know whether you can fit the small price of the eBook into your budget. Right now, the book will be tentatively priced somewhere between $5 and $7, and it’s my hope that the book is affordable for everyone.

Also, I should probably mention that while it’s to the disappointment of some, the book will only be available digitally. Believe me, I understand that all of you don’t have e-readers, and believe me when I say I’msympathetic to that. I really am. At the same time, I am footing the bill for this book completely out of pocket, and the cost of printing was simply too much to make this into a standard book. I hope you understand, but also hope that if you do have an e-reader, you’ll consider making the purchase. The book will be available on all Kindle platforms, and I’m currently trying to get things figured out with iTunes as well.

Otherwise, that’s all I’ve really got to say. Well, other than to give you a thank you, of course.

Please understand it’s you guys who have inspired me to write this book and convinced me that it will be a success. You guys not only read not my stuff, not only comment on it and critique and criticize me, but also are amongst the most supportive group of readers I could ever ask for. I can’t tell you how humbling it is to hear just once, “Hey man, I really enjoy your work.” It makes all the hard work worth it every time.

It’s also why I know this book will be a success. I wouldn’t have put it together if it wasn’t something that I thought you all would enjoy and respond to.

Either way, if you’ve got any questions, feel free to hit me up on Twitter (@Aaron_Torres) or by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , and also subscribe to my e-newsletter for updates on the book as well (just type in your e-mail to the box on the right-hand side of this site). Also, I will be providing updates here at Aaron Torres Sports as well right up until the book is published.

Once again, I want to thank you for all the support.

And if we don’t speak between now and then, well, Happy Thanksgiving.

Aaron
 

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A few weeks ago, in anticipation of their massive basketball showdown with the North Carolina Tar Heels on November 16, I had the opportunity to head down to Long Beach State University campus and chat with some of the folks in their athletic department. It was a fun visit, one which took me deep behind the curtain of a mid-major basketball program, at a school which was preparing for not just another banner season, but also quite possibly the biggest home game in decades.  

And during my time on campus, there was one thing which stuck out to me above all about the visit: The candor and confidence which many around the athletic department had about the state of their basketball program. Optimism has never been higher, both in the present and future.

“Five years ago, I didn’t think we could ever make a Final Four,” one school official told me. “Now I know we can.”

And really, nothing tells you more about the current state of college basketball than that statement right there. With the one-and-done rule now firmly in place and NBA teams plucking more top-flight freshmen and sophomores off of college rosters than ever before, major college basketball programs have never been younger than they are now.

That also means that the playing field has never been more level for mid-major schools either. Understand that it’s not impossible for just about any school to become a mid-major power these days. All you need is to get a few good players in your program, take the time to develop them, sprinkle in a transfer or two from a major program, and there’s no reason that within a couple years you can’t be competing for deep NCAA Tournament runs. Schools like Butler, VCU, San Diego State and others have proven recently that you don’t need decades of basketball history to become an elite basketball program. If you’ve got the right coach, a smart administration and a good group of kids, it can happen for pretty much anyone.

Follow Aaron on Twitter @Aaron_Torres.

It’s a relatively quiet weekend in college football, well, except out in California, where one of the great underrated rivalries will be played between UCLA and USC. And this year, it’s about more than just pride in Los Angeles: That's right, a Pac-12 South title will be on the line.

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And as I do before every big USC game, I had to have my buddy Pedro Moura of ESPN LA on to discuss all the comings and goings around the Trojans program. No one knows this team better than Pedro and earlier this week, we discussed the following:

- The irony around last year’s 50-0 USC win. For UCLA it seems like it was the best thing to ever happen to them, and for USC, you could argue it was quite possibly the worst.

- What’s the matter with Matt Barkley this year? He hasn’t seemed like himself, but should we be surprised? Pedro also explains how a disappointing senior year of HIGH SCHOOL for Barkley should’ve raised some white flags heading into this senior year of college.

While college basketball fans are disappointed to know that the freshmen they fell in love with last season like Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Bradley Beal are now cashing professional paychecks, they also have the satisfaction of knowing that a new group of freshmen has entered the building and is ready to take college hoops by storm.

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Well no one knows these freshmen better than ESPN college basketball recruiting analyst Dave Telep, who has covered many of this year’s freshmen class since they were teenagers. And on Tuesday Telep was nice enough to join me on the podcast, to discuss some of the names college basketball fans need to know.

Amongst the topics we discussed included:

- How early does Dave’s evaluation of a star basketball player begin? What does he look for in a prospect? And why sometimes it takes some truly special, “CSI” type skills for him to learn the things he knows to know to truly evaluate a prospect.

- Talking about the players specifically, what do fans need to know about this year’s group of Kentucky’s freshmen? Nerlens Noel, Archie Goodwin and Alex Poythress are replacing stars like Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist, but according to Telep, that doesn’t make the new players equals to last year’s.

- While Kentucky’s freshmen have the most hype, there isn’t a single individual player with more pressure than Indiana’s Yogi Ferrell. Dave discusses what makes Ferrell special, and why thankfully, he won’t have to go at it alone in Bloomington.