AU coach search update

Auburn’s baseball coach search has indeed picked up steam; it’s just not moving anywhere just yet.

According to a report in the Louisville, Ky., Courier Journal, Auburn has contacted Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell, but the second-year Cardinal head coach said “no thanks.“

AU officials requested permission from U of L to speak to McDonnell, but the discussions weren’t very fruitful.

“I was flattered and I appreciated the interest,“ McDonnell told the Courier-Journal. “But after a few conversations and reassessing with Tom everything that’s going on here, my family and I feels like Louisville is our home. I plan to be here for some time.“ (Note: “Tom” is Louisville AD Tom Jurich.)

McDonnell, who played at The Citadel, spent six seasons as an assistant at Ole Miss before taking the Louisville job in 2007. The 37-year-old coach is 88-45 in two seasons, the best mark in team history. The Cardinals made the College World Series in 2007 and qualified for an NCAA Regional in ‘08.

Attempts by the Opelika-Auburn News to contact McDonnell Tuesday afternoon were unsuccessful.

Television update

The SEC has released the early television schedule for the coming football season. And so far—mark your calendars and your DVRs!—three Auburn games have confirmed kickoff times: The Sept. 6 Southern Miss game (Raycom, formerly JP, at 11:30 Central); the Sept. 13 Mississippi State game (ESPN2, 7 p.m.); and the Oct. 23 West Virginia game (ESPN, 7:30 p.m.)

Here’s the complete list so far, courtesy of the SEC office. For some reason, all times are Eastern:

(Thu.) Aug. 28     7:00 p.m.            ESPNU Vanderbilt at Miami (Ohio)
(Thu.) Aug. 28     8:00 p.m.            ESPN N.C. State at South Carolina

(Sat.) Aug. 30     12:30 p.m.            Raycom Sports Hawaii at Florida
(Sat.) Aug. 30     5:00 p.m.            ESPN Appalachian State at LSU
(Sat.) Aug. 30     6:45 p.m.            ESPN2 Mississippi State at Louisiana Tech
(Sat.) Aug. 30     8:00 p.m.            ABC Sports Alabama vs. Clemson (Atlanta, Ga.)

(Sun.) Aug. 31     3:30 p.m.            ESPN Kentucky at Louisville

(Mon.) Sept. 1     8:00 p.m.            ESPN Tennessee at UCLA

(Thu.) Sept. 4     8:30 p.m.            ESPN South Carolina at Vanderbilt

(Sat.) Sept. 6     12:30 p.m.            Raycom Sports Southern Mississippi at Auburn
(Sat.) Sept. 6     3:30 p.m.            ABC Sports Ole Miss at Wake Forest
(Sat.) Sept. 6     8:00 p.m.            ESPN Miami at Florida

(Sat.) Sept. 13   12:30 p.m.            Raycom Sports UAB at Tennessee
(Sat.) Sept. 13   3:30 p.m.            CBS Sports Georgia at South Carolina
(Sat.) Sept. 13   3:30 p.m.            ABC Sports Arkansas at Texas
(Sat.) Sept. 13   7:00 p.m.            ESPN2 Auburn at Mississippi State        

(Sat.) Sept. 20   8:13 p.m.            ABC Sports Georgia at Arizona State

(Thu.) Oct. 23     7:30 p.m.            ESPN Auburn at West Virginia

(Fri.) Nov. 28     12:30 p.m.            Raycom Sports Mississippi State at Ole Miss
(Fri.) Nov. 28     2:30 p.m.            CBS Sports LSU at Arkansas (Little Rock)

(Sat.) Dec. 6     4:00 p.m.            CBS Sports SEC Championship Game (Atlanta, Ga.)

Marquee matchups

With all the hoopla over the Lakers-Celtics series in the NBA Finals, I got to wondering what the equivalent would be in other sports.

Obviously, in the NBA there really aren’t any other teams with the history of Boston and L.A./Minneapolis. Once the series ends, the two teams will hold half of the 62 NBA championships. The only other teams that even come close in terms of historical significance are the Knicks, Sixers and Bulls.

In other sports it’s not quite as easy.

In Major League Baseball, for instance, the top series — at least when it comes to ratings — would be Yankees-Dodgers, but it really doesn’t have quite as much historical significance unless you incorporate the Dodgers’ time in Brooklyn, and the two haven’t met in a World Series since 1981. Having some combination of those two or the Cardinals, Cubs or Red Sox wouldn’t be bad, either.

In the NFL, it’s pretty easy to say the top series would be Cowboys-Steelers, since they both have five Super Bowl wins and have both been at the very least competitve with only a few hiccups here and there for going on 40 years. Having the 49ers, Packers or Giants is nice, as well.

In the NHL, they’d really just like any combination of the Original Six — the Red Wings, Blackhawks, Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Bruins and Rangers.

College basketball would want UCLA and either North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, Kansas or Indiana.

But what about college football?

The knee-jerk answer would be Notre Dame-Alabama, but college football is unique in that it has several marquee programs.

You could also get excited pretty easily for USC, UCLA, Michigan, Ohio State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas or Penn State on a historical level, plus maybe even Tennessee. And then there are the Florida schools, who have really become college football’s biggest draw over the last generation.

It’s definitely not an easy answer. My gut tells me it’d be Notre Dame-Alabama, but I’d like to know what you think.