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Tampa, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Auburn was set to play in the BCS National Championship Game and Paul Chryst was finishing up his second season at Pittsburgh this time last year. The landscape at the start of 2015 is decidedly different for both parties, as the 19th-ranked Tigers settled for playing in the Outback bowl against Chrysts new team, the 17th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Jan. 1. The Tigers were once again in the title picture this season before a late- season collapse. While its offense put up big numbers on a weekly basis, Auburns defense was not up to par, which cost coordinator Ellis Johnson his job just hours after the Tigers surrendered 55 points to rival Alabama in the Iron Bowl. That loss dropped the Tigers to 8-4 overall and was their third straight conference setback. They wound up allowing 32.8 ppg against conference opponents and finished 4-4 against them. Charlie Harbison will serve as the defensive coordinator on New Years Day, but newly hired Will Muschamp was with the team during practice this month and will certainly be tuned in for the finale. Head coach Gus Malzahn knows his defensive players are under the microscope. Theyre trying to impress him, trying to show what they can do, Malzahn said of the recently-fired Florida head coach. Theyre in evaluation mode and hes trying to evaluate what we have and thinking about next year and putting his pieces of the puzzle. Linebacker Cassanova McKinzy finished second of the team in total tackles (82) and first in tackles for loss (10). Defensive back Jonathan Jones recorded three of the teams SEC-best 19 interceptions and was named to the All-SEC First Team. While the defense will undoubtedly be in good hands under Muschamp in the near future, theres not much Auburns offense can improve upon after putting up 35.8 points and 489.2 yards per game. Nine more points would give Auburn 439 on the season, which would rank third in school history behind the 2010 and 2013 squads. The offense is anchored by First-Team SEC center Reese Dismukes and boasts a talented backfield in Nick Marshall and Cameron Artis-Payne. After guiding the Tigers to within one late Florida State drive of a national title his first year under center, Marshall again showed his dual-threat ability by throwing for 2,315 yards and adding 780 more on the ground. He accounted for 29 total touchdowns, 18 through the air, and needs just 37 rushing yards to pass Phil Gargis for the most by an Auburn QB. Artis-Payne led the SEC at 127.7 rushing ypg and scored 11 touchdowns, while leading receiver Duke Williams, a junior college transfer, leads the Tigers with 45 receptions for 730 yards (16.2 yds/catch) and five TDs. Williams has been struck with an illness over the break and has not practiced. His status for the game is unknown. As far as special teams go, Auburn finished third nationally at 17.8 yards per punt return thanks to Quan Bray, who took two back for touchdowns. The Tigers are 22-14-2 all-time in bowl games, while Wisconsin is 11-14 in the postseason. Twelve of those bowl appearances came with Barry Alvarez as the Badgers head coach. Alvarez, the schools athletic director, is serving as interim head coach for this game as Chryst gets acclimated with the program after being hired on Dec. 17. A number of the seniors met with me...and asked if I would consider coaching the team, Alvarez said. I feel this gives our assistants an opportunity to concentrate on getting the team ready for a very good opponent in Auburn. My goal is to make sure our players, especially the seniors playing their last game, have a memorable experience and we do everything we can to prepare to win the game. Chryst is taking over for Gary Andersen, who decided to leave for Oregon State following the Badgers embarrassing 59-0 loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten title game. Melvin Gordon was held to 76 yards in that forgettable contest, soiling what was otherwise one of the most prolific seasons by a running back in FBS history. Gordon, who has a year left of eligibility, rushed for a then-FBS record 408 yards against Nebraska in November and ended the season with an FBS-leading 2,336 yards rushing, the fourth-best total all-time. He finished as a runner-up to Heisman Trophy-winner Marcus Mariota, and one touchdown in the Outback Bowl will give Gordon 30 on the season. Only Oklahoma States Barry Sanders (1988) and UCFs Kevin Smith (2007) finished with at least 2,000 rushing yards and 30 TDs in an FBS season. Corey Clement has served as an adequate backup to Gordon, totaling 830 yards and eight TDs, while Tanner McEvoy, the teams second-string QB, has added 572 yards and six TDs on the ground. Joel Stave (79-of-136, 1,042 yards, eight TDs, four INTs) is not asked to do a lot through the air, but when he does, he often looks for wide receiver Alex Ericson, who has 44 receptions for 651 yards and three TDs, or tight end Sam Arneson, who brought in 25 passes for 331 yards and four TDs. The blowout to Ohio State was an outlier for Wisconsin, which ranked fourth in FBS in total defense by allowing just 283.2 ypg. The Badgers also ranked No. 13 in scoring defense (20.0 ppg), No. 17 in rushing defense (118.9 ypg) and No. 5 in passing defense (164.3 ypg). This bowl has pitted programs from the SEC and Big Ten against each other since 1995, and the former has won four of the last five years. Auburn and Wisconsin met in the Capital One Bowl nine years ago, and the Badgers earned a 24-10 victory in what, incidentally, was Alvarezs final game in his 16-year tenure as head coach. Clearance Sports Jerseys . The 55th-ranked Istomin saved 11 of 14 break points to win in just over two hours, setting up a second round meeting with Australian Marinko Matosevic. It was the Uzbeks third win in three matches against fifth-seeded Kohlschreiber, the 2007 and 2012 tournament winner. Fake Sports Jerseys . His big 2-minute outburst in the fourth quarter Tuesday night is all that really mattered for the Dallas Mavericks. https://www.discountsportsjerseyscheap.com/.Y. - Sven Andrighetto scored once and set up two more as the Hamilton Bulldogs hung on to defeat the host Adirondack Flames 5-3 on Tuesday in American Hockey League action. Cheap Sports Jerseys . The Wizards announced Friday that Webster had surgery to repair a herniated disc in his lower back. The operation was performed Thursday in Los Angeles. Discount Sports Jerseys . Some members of the U.S. Congress arent so sure. They say Russia isnt doing enough to assure that athletes will be protected at the Feb. 7-23 games, happening not far from an Islamic insurgency that Russias huge security apparatus has struggled for two decades to quell. Russia may run greater risks in towns outside the tightly controlled Olympic zone. Suicide bombs last month a few hundred kilometres (miles) away have increased concerns, and an Islamic warlord has urged his followers to attack the Sochi Olympics, Russian President Vladimir Putins pet project. DAYTON, Ohio -- Dont get discouraged, coach Cuonzo Martin told his Volunteers during those long NCAA tournament timeouts. Instead, hang in there and figure a way to pull it out. They went about it a most improbable way. With forward Jarnell Stokes using his 280 pounds to dominate inside and a highly regarded defence finally locking in, Tennessee pulled off the first amazing comeback of the NCAA tournament. Stokes opened overtime with a three-point play that put Tennessee ahead to stay, and the Volunteers defence shut down Iowa in overtime for a 78-65 victory on Wednesday night, finishing off the First Four with an exclamation point. "I told our guys weve been through everything this season, keep your composure down the stretch," said Martin, who got his first NCAA tournament win in his third season at Tennessee. "Find ways to win the ball game." The Vols (22-12) head to Raleigh, N.C., where theyll play sixth-seeded Massachusetts on Friday in the Midwest Regional. They left Dayton with a lot of momentum -- six wins in their last seven games. "We did a tremendous job toward the end of fighting back," said Jordan McRae, who had 20 points. "We did a great job on our defence. For us to hold them like we did was a great job." Tennessee didnt lead until Antonio Bartons 3-pointer put the Vols up 59-57 with 3:05 left regulation. There were five lead changes before McRae missed a jumper missed at the buzzer, leaving it tied at 64. No surprise that Barton made the big shot. The senior transfer is the only Volunteer with any significant NCAA tournament experience, having appeared in three of them with Memphis. Stokes three-point play in overtime was the key moment in his 18-point, 13-rebound performance, putting the Volunteers ahead to stay. It was his 20th double-double this season, the most by a Volunteer since Bernard King had 22 of them in 1976-77. Tennessees highly regarded defence took it from there, holding Iowa (21-13) to one free throw the rest of the way. The Hawkeyes missed all eight of their shots from the field in overtime. "You go tthrough anything so often -- being in those games, being in those situations -- were a much better team the last eight games," Martin said.dddddddddddd "Guys stepped up and made plays." It was a tough ending to a long and stressful day for Iowa coach Fran McCaffery. He started the day in Iowa with his teenage son, Patrick, who had surgery to remove a thyroid tumour. His assistant coaches led the Hawkeyes through a meeting and their final practice, and McCaffery was back by game time. Martin and the Volunteers hugged him after the game and wished him well. "Their players hugged me and told me they were thinking of me," McCaffery said. "I was really impressed with their guys and the program Cuonzo has built there." Adam Woodbury had 16 points for Iowa, which got a subpar performance from its leading scorer. Roy Devyn Marble was only 3 of 15 from the field for seven points, matching his season low. "I dont think we ran out of gas," Woodbury said. "We made some key mistakes down the stretch and that hurt us." The ending will sting the Hawkeyes for a long time. They were struggling as they headed into their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2006, losing six of their previous seven games. Defence was the biggest problem, often letting them down in the second half. They opened the game in promising fashion, switching from man-to-man to zone to half-court traps. It worked. They got off to a 16-4 lead and were still ahead 29-26 at halftime. They kept swatting away the Volunteers runs until the last few minutes of regulation. Marbles basket tied it at 64, and he was guarding McCrae when he missed his fade-away shot at the buzzer sending it to overtime. Tennessee got an at-large bid by closing the season with a defensive flourish. The Volunteers won five straight before losing to No. 1 Florida 56-49 in the Southeastern Conference tournament. They gave up 61.1 points per game, second only to Florida in the SEC, and allowed an average of only 47.4 points in the last four games. In overtime, that defence decided it. ' ' '