man, RIP to two legends in one week

haven’t been on this site in a couple of months for various reasons but I know that a number of the good Auburn fans (and Observer subscribers) do, so, for you guys… the mailbag’s back, send me your questions if you’ve got them and we’ll run the answers on Friday www.auburnobserver.com

Fin.

Observations: Ole Miss 85, Auburn 79 - Auburn’s defense made Ole Miss look like Michigan (statistically speaking) - yet another game where the Tigers didn’t win down low - it’s getting easier and easier to slow down this offense - Rotation Charts - Quote of the Night

believe the MWC has been the most fun hoops conference to watch for years now

The Stretch 4: no sugarcoating it… this is a must-win rematch with Ole Miss for Auburn tonight - once again: defend — or die - get back to taking control in the frontcourt - find your way back to the free-throw line - there could be an edge in the 3-point battle (yes, really)

the folks at the little-known, under-the-radar Coca-Cola Company have done it with this one

in this week’s mailbag: - what’s the realistic path to an NCAA Tournament bid for Auburn now? - why has the defense been like this? - looking back at this roster construction — and ahead to next season - Steven Pearl as a head coach - my rankings of every SEC basketball venue

Observations: Oklahoma 91, Auburn 79 - the good defensive performances are now the outliers - Auburn lost down low when it mattered the most - sloppy, stubborn offense prevented the usual comeback - “Everyone’s tired at this time of year.”

flew into DFW last night instead of Oklahoma to save some cash stayed in Denton, so I asked Auburn’s SID who used to be at UNT where I should eat lunch before I left he gave a recommendation that was absolutely perfect for two of my biggest interests: Mexican food and wrestling El Taco H = 🔥🔥🔥

Auburn’s thriller of a win over Kentucky kept the Tigers on the right side of the bubble, but there’s work to do it continues tonight at Oklahoma — where, looking at the matchup, Auburn needs to stick to the team defense + inside game formula that has gotten it several SEC wins

[independent sportswriter voice] paying a little more for an exit row seat on Frontier remains the best value in air travel

Auburn needed a hero to beat Kentucky and save its basketball season KeShawn Murphy was that hero, setting new career-highs in points (25) and offensive rebounds (8) while being quite impactful on the defensive end of the floor it's time for a Film Room: INTO THE SPIDER-MURPH

almost done with another rewatch of Friday Night Lights, and my hatred of Julie Taylor grows with each one

Observations: Auburn 75, Kentucky 74 - you’ve gotta start with the defense in this one - even before the game-winner, Elyjah Freeman came up big - KeShawn Murphy bounced back with a vengeance - Keyshawn Hall didn’t need to score to affect this game - Rotation Charts - Nerd Stats

dawg🥹

wheel snipe celly boys 🇺🇸

✌️ well, that was a wild one Observations from Auburn’s last-second win vs. Kentucky coming to subscribers at 6 a.m. CT podcast with @dnpck to follow later Sunday and we’ve got a Film Room in the works for Monday join us and get it all emailed to you: auburnobserver.com

a Saturday morning sports card snag

Steven Pearl pointed out two main issues that Auburn really needs to fix in order to end this losing streak: - letting top guards beat you (especially from 3) - getting off to slow starts and, as it turns out, those are going to be even bigger in a matchup vs. Kentucky tonight

Arrested Development S2E4: “Good Grief”

Observations: Mississippi State 91, Auburn 85 - new lows in defending a scoring guard and the 3-point line - the late-game failures on both ends of the floor - another impressive comeback… but yet another brutal start - Rotation Charts - Nerd Stats - Quote of the Night

ruined an entire musical experience for my wife by asking these questions the entire ride home

happy Mardi Gras, I made pastalaya

despite four straight Ls, Auburn basketball is still unanimously projected to make the NCAA Tournament — and the vast majority of bracketologists have them decently off the bubble but the Tigers need to get winning again to stay there, starting with a big one at State this week

slaps, bangs, whips, thumps, etc.

Observations: Arkansas 88, Auburn 75 - the impact of no Keyshawn Hall - Auburn needed more from others, especially to start the 2nd half - paint battle flipped in a big way from the first matchup - if Tahaad Pettiford can keep this up… - and the same goes for KeShawn Murphy…

here in Fayetteville tonight for Auburn basketball’s massive road test at Arkansas for those who have asked: Auburn SF/PF Keyshawn Hall made the trip to Arkansas, despite the fact he’s out for this game

“yeah, we only do beef ribs on Saturdays” say no more, friend

becoming a lucha guy in 2026

news: Auburn leading scorer Keyshawn Hall is officially out for Saturday’s game at Arkansas (the SEC availability report does not list reasons for designations) Hall didn’t play the final 12:38 in Tuesday’s loss to Vanderbilt in what HC Steven Pearl called “a coach’s decision”

the second-worst head coach in Alabama Crimson Tide football history

we’ve talked to all of Auburn football’s on-field coaches over the last two weeks after going through the notes from each of those interviews, I pulled out 15 different Tigers — most new, some returning — who have made strong first impressions since the calendar flipped to 2026

Observations: Vanderbilt 84, Auburn 76 - why Keyshawn Hall didn’t play for the final 12:38 - the sequence that killed off Auburn’s comeback - the Tigers have got to make some changes on defense - what can you take away from the offensive performance? - rotation charts and more

playing Kevin Overton at PG when Tahaad Pettiford is on the bench seems like a small change to the rotation but the ripple effect from it could have a lot of impact on Auburn over the final four weeks of the regular season, starting tonight against a great Vanderbilt team here’s how:

at Acre tonight for a very early Valentine’s Day because the rest of our weeks are super busy, so we’re going back-to-back on the S-tier local food

New England magically scoring right after Seattle went up by three scores, this is every CFB26 game played on Heisman difficulty

Derick Hall is in like the top 1% of Auburn players I have ever covered, and watching him go off in the Super Bowl is a blast

Braves winning it all this year

Bad Bunny knows that ball security is job security

Cooper Kupp and Bryan Danielson are the most Washington State-looking people alive

being on a first-name basis with the best food truck in town >>>>>>>>>>>

60 years ago today, mild-mannered jim bowl was bitten by a radioactive spider

non-zero chance Kim Mulkey is driving one of these

Observations: Alabama 96, Auburn 92 - the final two minutes of the first half changed everything - “Our best players have got to be better defenders.” - a bad matchup to not get much from a smaller bench - not perfect, of course, but you’ll take a lot of what you got on offense

it’s game day, it’s Auburn vs. Alabama, it’s The Stretch 4 preview: - defending the trigger-happiest guards in the country - get back to basics at the rim and at the line - gotta grab more of what should be a boatload of rebounds - make the home-court and health advantages count

like to think I’m adventurous, but not this much

in this week’s Observer mailbag: - what would be a successful Year 1 for Alex Golesh? - how will Auburn use those TEs? - what about the running schemes? - my favorite Gus Malzahn play call - how to get out of a shooting slump - a column from FOTP’s own Dave McKinney: “The IBOB Makes Me Sick”

this is me working around my overwhelming desire to put the word “piss” in a headline

Brody King squashing MJF in a TV main event?