Auburn coach Gus Malzahn sells how excited he is to play in Birmingham Bowl
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Auburn, the preseason SEC favorite, finished 6-6, sneaking into the Birmingham Bowl.
There’s only one bowl lower on the totem pole of postseason games with SEC tie-ins, and the conference will not send a team to the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., this season. So Auburn officially is the SEC’s lowest-rated bowl team this year.
Heck, at least Auburn fans won’t have to travel far up I-65 or Highway 280 to get to the game.
Thursday’s Birmingham Bowl press conference featuring Malzahn trying to sell how excited his team is to play in The Magic City was unintentional comedy.
Gus Malzahn has arrived for the Birmingham Bowl press conference pic.twitter.com/X0f3Da1bJ8
— Bryan Matthews (@BMattAU) December 10, 2015
Said Malzahn about playing in Birmingham: “It’s very unique that we’re playing a bowl game in our home state. It ought to be a pretty good crowd. We’ve got the best fans in college football. To get a chance to play close to home, we’re very excited about that.”
Malzahn: "It's very unique that we're playing in a bowl game in our home state." Says approx. 40% of the Auburn roster are in-state players.
— Matthew Stevens (@matthewcstevens) December 10, 2015
Malzahn says he's good friends with new Memphis coach Mike Norvell from his Tulsa days.
— John Zenor (@jzenor) December 10, 2015
Gus Malzahn says Memphis' win over Ole Miss was attention grabbing as is the team's starting QB, Malzahn calls him one of best in country
— WarEagleExtra (@wareagleextra) December 10, 2015
On the other sideline, interim Memphis coach Darrell Dickey had equally flattering things to say about Auburn.
“There are no weaknesses in their team. They kill you with a between-the-tackle running game.”
Darrell Dickey on Malzahn: "Everybody in college football, us included, is trying to copy things he does offensively."
— Greg Ostendorf (@greg_ostendorf) December 10, 2015
At least one person wasn’t buying the microphone love fest:
Bowl pressers are bs. Malzahn says our players are excited to play in bham bowl. And Memphis coach says on film auburn has no weakness
— Jake Wright (@jakewright1996) December 10, 2015
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
