I wrote a story for today's newspaper to kick off the Iron Bowl week. Here's how it starts:

AUBURN, Ala. — Gene Chizik has participated in three Iron Bowls in his life, but it’s enough for the first-year Auburn head coach to come to one very strong conclusion.

“This is in my opinion, if not the, one of the top couple of rivalries in college football,” he said. “The fans make it that way. It’s just great spirit. It’s great passion.”

It’s been five years since Chizik has been involved in an Iron Bowl, dating back to the heavily-favored Tigers’ 21-13 win in Tuscaloosa on their way to a perfect season in 2004. Auburn was No. 2 in the country at the time; Alabama was not ranked.

Those roles will be reversed this time around. Auburn is 7-4 (3-4 SEC), having lost four of its last six and hoping to improve its tenuous bowl standing among a scrum of SEC teams that figure to finish anywhere from 6-6 to 8-4. The Tigers have a number of possible postseason destinations, the most likely of which include the Chick-fil-A, Music City, Liberty and Independence bowls.

Alabama (11-0, 7-0) enters the game No. 2 in the nation and with its ticket already punched for the SEC championship game against Florida in Atlanta on Dec. 5.

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