It's luuuuunch time. Here are some links I found interesting. Enjoy.

• Jimmy Watson of the Shreveport Times writes that Louisiana Tech junior quarterback Ross Jenkins is a game manager. Normally that's backhanded compliment, but the Bulldogs feel confident Jenkins, who went 6-2 as a starter last year, will evolve into a big-play quarterback in the long-term.

• This story is from the summer, but it still applies, since the economy hasn't exactly completely rebounded yet. ESPN.com's Graham Watson writes that Louisiana Tech is one of the few schools plunging money into their athletic programs right now. The Bulldogs added a state-of-the-art scoreboard to their field this year, in addition to other upgrades across campus. Here's a great quote by head coach Derek Dooley, who doubles as the athletic director:

  "You look at the companies that came out of the Great Depression, and it's the ones that invested in their marketing and advertising that were able to get stronger," Louisiana Tech athletic director and football coach Derek Dooley said. "You can look at it one way and say, 'Well, we don't have money to invest in these things.' Or you can look at it how I look at it, and that's when you make small investments, you get big returns. And certainly it's a risk. But if you're going to survive, you're willing to take a little risk."

• Here's an interesting graph for you from ESPN.com listing the number of games each team in the country has played against ranked non-conference opponents in the last five years. Who has the most? Louisiana Tech is one of three teams with nine. The least? Auburn is one of six teams with zero. Now, scheduling is a difficult process. I'm sure when the Tigers scheduled Washington State for 2006 and Kansas State for 2007 they didn't think those programs would be in the dumps. Plus, South Florida did pretty well for itself in 2007 and West Virginia did last year, even though those teams weren't ranked at the time they played Auburn. That said, it's interesting how different these Week 1 opponents are in scheduling philosophies.
  

• By the way, here's Louisiana Tech's bold scheduling the last few years, and this doesn't count six games it played against ranked teams from the WAC (Boise State, Fresno State and Hawaii). The Bulldogs lost all nine of these games:
  

• 2008: No. 14 Kansas, No. 17 Boise State
• 2007: No. 8 California, No. 2 LSU
• 2006: No. 18 Clemson
• 2005: No. 10 Florida, No. 20 Nebraska
• 2004: No. 4 Miami, No. 8 Tennessee, No. 6 Auburn
  

• ESPN.com's Chris Low lists each SEC team's key to the season. Naturally, depth is Auburn's biggest concern. I don't think anybody disagrees with that.

• Alabama's Brandon Deaderick actually returned to practice yesterday after being shot during a robbery attempt. Amazing.

• David Hale of the Macon Telegraph writes that Oklahoma State surely can't know what to expect from Georgia's offense come Saturday, because the Bulldogs hardly know what to expect form their offense.

• It seems like every day something new gets piled on Michigan's Rich Rodriguez. First its his players, now its his business investments. Anybody else think he might be out if the Wolverines stink again this year? Maybe he should have stayed at West Virginia.

• Here's an oddity: Ohio State players actually coming to Michigan's defense. This would never happen in Alabama.

• Notre Dame's Charlie Weis must be the best-paid intern in the country. Actually, considering the times, he might be the only paid intern in the country.
  

• This is a few days old but worth noting: Bobby Lowder, Auburn's most famous donor, lost almost $164 million in the collapse of Colonial Bank's stock, according to Cosby Woodruff of the Montgomery Advertiser. That's a lot of moolah. I guess you've got to hand it to him for not bailing and selling off all his stock when things started to tumble.

• Oh yeah, did you know we were having a live chat today at 1 p.m. ET/noon CT? You can access it here. Be sure to come with your best Auburn questions.