Anchor Drop, November 4, 2023: Auburn Today

Good morning.

Optional Musical Accompaniment

It’s a Saturday in early November, and somehow... this is the final home game of the season? That’s right, after today, Vanderbilt has just two more football games: at South Carolina next Saturday, and at Tennessee on Thanksgiving weekend. (For some reason, we have a bye week on the traditional SoCon Saturday. Instead of respecting that tradition, we played Hawaii in Week 0.)

Anyway, today’s opponent is Auburn, who’s on Vanderbilt’s schedule for the first time since 2016. That’s right: we missed the entire Bryan Harsin era. You know, the people who want to redo conference schedules to prioritize making sure that you play everybody in the conference more than once every eight years over preserving annual regional rivalries sort of have a point when it comes to Vanderbilt playing Auburn. I care a lot more about playing Kentucky every year than I do about playing Oklahoma ever, but yeah, I’d probably like to see Auburn more than once in a decade. (That’s right: Vanderbilt played Auburn exactly once between 2013 and 2022.)

Which I guess isn’t super out of the ordinary from a historical perspective: in spite of sharing a conference with Auburn since the beginning of time, Vanderbilt has only played Auburn 43 times, or seven fewer times than they’ve played Sewanee, a team that has not been on the schedule since World War II. Anyway, on to some light pregame reading:

• The Vanderbilt Hustler: Three Matchups to Watch: Vanderbilt vs. Auburn
• The Vanderbilt Hustler: Film Room: Searching for consistency
• The Vanderbilt Hustler: Behind Enemy Bylines: Auburn Tigers
• War Blogle: I Have No Idea Who This Idiot Vanderbilt Blogger They Brought In To Answer Questions Is
• AuburnSports: 4 questions for Auburn vs. Vanderbilt
• AuburnTigers.com: Music City reunion for Auburn’s Elijah McCallister, Donovan Kaufman
• The Auburn Plainsman: Players to watch, keys to victory against Vanderbilt

Whatever happens today, basketball season starts on Tuesday. Monday for the women’s team.

Sports on TV (non-college football edition)

All times Central.

• 2:00 PM: NHL: Predators at Oilers (NHL Network)
• 3:30 PM: PGA Tour: World Wide Technology Championship, Third Round (Golf Channel)
• 6:00 PM: NHL: Sabres at Maple Leafs (NHL Network)
• 8:00 PM: NBA: Bulls at Nuggets (NBA TV)

Scoreboard

NBA: Pacers 121, Cavaliers 116 ... Bucks 110, Knicks 105 ... Heat 121, Wizards 114 ... Nets 109, Bulls 107 ... Warriors 141, Thunder 139 ... Nuggets 125, Mavericks 114 ... Trail Blazers 115, Grizzlies 113.

NHL: Flyers 5, Sabres 1 ... Blues 4, Devils 1.