Big news today for the site: the War Eagle Extra is moving.

It's Auburn's pro day, which you can read plenty more about later today on the blog and even watch on ESPN3 if you so desire.

• March 9, 4-6 p.m. CT: Demond Washington, Byron Isom, Kinnucan's, Montgomery
• March 10, 4:30-6:30 p.m. CT: Demond Washington, Tallassee High School Football Stadium (Proceeds from the book sales will benefit Tallassee High School)
• March 11, 5:30- 7:30 p.m. CT: Zac Etheridge, Auburn Spirit Store, Riverchase Galleria, Hoover
• March 12, Noon-2 p.m. CT: Zac Etheridge, Charles Henderson High School, Troy (Proceeds from the book sales will benefit Charles Henderson High School)
• March 12, 10 a.m.-noon CT: Darvin Adams, The Galleria, Hoover
• March 12, noon-1 p.m. CT: Byron Isom, The Galleria, Hoover
• March 12, 1-3 p.m.: Kodi Burns, The Galleria, Hoover
• March 12, 4-6 p.m.: Michael Goggans, The Galleria, Hoover
• March 19, 10 a.m.-noon CT: Michael Goggans, Benjamin Russell High School, Alexander City (Proceeds to benefit Benjamin Russell High School)
• March 19: 4-6 p.m. ET: Michael Goggans and Byron Isom, Kinnucan's, Columbus

Auburn and LSU square off tonight to see who won't finish last in the SEC West. Here's how today's story starts:

AUBURN, Ala. -- It has been nearly three months since Auburn played LSU in their conference opener, a miserable performance in which it scored only 6 first-half points in an eventual loss.

It seems like ages ago for the Tigers (10-19, 3-12 SEC), who have shown a competitive streak in the second half of the SEC season.

“I think we’re much better,” Auburn forward Kenny Gabriel said. “We’re all coming along together and playing as one. I think everybody is on the same page.”

Both teams will try to avoid the stigma of finishing in last place when they meet in tonight’s regular-season finale at the Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La., at 7.

The winner earns the West’s No. 5 seed in next week’s SEC tournament in Atlanta, matching up against the East’s No. 4 in the first game Thursday. The loser is the sixth seed, going up against the East’s No. 3 in the late game.

Auburn and Arkansas play this afternoon, but I wrote about somebody who won't even be dressing up for the game -- point guard Varez Ward, a transfer from Texas. Here's how the story starts:

AUBURN, Ala. -- Auburn guard Varez Ward has perfected the waiting game.

His college debut was delayed a year for prep school. His first chance to shine was delayed because of a bad attitude. And his opportunity to start has been delayed by a quad tear and transfer from Texas to Auburn, where he won’t be eligible to play until next season.

But patience is exactly what is needed by the Tigers (9-18, 2-11 SEC), who continue to play out the stretch today against Arkansas (17-10, 6-7) at the Auburn Arena starting at 1:47 p.m.

“It’s hard to sit there and watch because I know I can be out there helping out my teammates get wins,” Ward said. “I think I’ll be able to come in and compete.”

With Ward, 6-foot-6 Clemson transfer Noel Johnson and injured guard Frankie Sullivan all joining the rotation next season, there appears to be brighter days on the horizon for Auburn, which needs to win one of its final three league games to avoid its worst conference mark since going 2-16 in 1988-89.

It was a full day of tree coverage in the wake of the Toomer's Corner oaks poisoning. Here are the Ledger-Enquirer's stories to fill you in after the arrest of 62-year-old Harvey Almorn Updyke of Dadeville, Ala.

File this under shameless self promotion: former Tigers safety Zac Etheridge will be signing copies of the Ledger-Enquirer's book about Auburn's BCS national championship run on Saturday at the Kinnucan's in Auburn from 1-3 p.m CT.

Auburn hosts Mississippi State tonight at 7 ET. To advance the game, I wrote a story on freshman Auburn guard Chris Denson, who played at Shaw High in Columbus. Here's how it starts:

AUBURN, Ala. -- His defense wasn’t quite ready, so Auburn freshman guard Chris Denson found playing time sparse the first half of the season.

But given a chance in a blowout at Mississippi State in the middle of January, the left-hander from Shaw High showed he had a skill the offensively challenged Tigers desperately needed: He could score.

“My main mentality was to score, score, score and help my team to win,” Denson said. “Coach always says contribute to the team, so I try to contribute to the team by scoring offensively and doing what I do on defense.”

Denson is starting to establish a foothold at the college level, providing an offensive spark off the bench for the Tigers (8-15, 1-8 SEC), who host Mississippi State (13-10, 5-4) tonight at 7.

The 6-foot-2, 180-pound reserve guard has averaged 8.3 points the past four games, scoring 10 at South Carolina and Georgia.

I wrote a story for today's paper about one of this year's Chattahoochee Valley Sports Hall of Fame inductees, former Columbus High and Auburn standout linebacker Ron Yarbrough.

Immediate impact players

Gabe Wright, Carver High, Columbus, Ga., DT, 6-3, 273

Auburn lost Lombardi winner Nick Fairley to the NFL draft and seniors Zach Clayton and Mike Blanc to graduation, so there’s room on the depth chart.

Reese Dismukes, Spanish Fort (Ala.) High, C, 6-4, 287

With three-year starter Ryan Pugh departing, Auburn is in need of a center. Dismukes enrolled in January to get a head start on the job.

Jonathan Rose, Leeds (Ala.) High, CB, 6-2, 170

Another early enrollee, Rose is a big, physical corner who could step in at a position that doesn’t have a lot of depth now that Demond Washington is gone.

Tre Mason, Park Vista High, Lake Worth, Fla., RB, 5-10, 190

After Mike Dyer and Onterio McCalebb, there aren’t a lot of running back options. Mason is a play-maker who can be a physical runner too, just like Auburn likes.

Robenson Therezie, Jackson High, Miami, Fla., DB, 5-10, 180

Erique Florence is the higher-ranked safety, but he played quarterback his senior year of high school. Therezie is a hard-hitter who is versatile enough to play cornerback too.

This could filed under extremely shameless self-promotion, but the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer has put together a book about Auburn's season titled, "All In: Auburn's Run for the National championship."

It's labeled as a coffee table book (I'm not sure if it, in fact, turns into a coffee table), but it has all my stories about the Tigers from the start of the season to last night's dramatic finish. If that's not enough, there are tons and tons of great photos.

Here's a link to buy one. It's only $19.95. What a bargain! Pre-order it today. Books ship the week of Jan. 24, so you won't have to wait long to get it.

Fans who want to purchase the book can call 1-888-600-7816 or 1-888-806-0918, but I think it helps our paper more if you go through the website.

I wrote a story for today's newspaper about Auburn coach Gene Chizik and Oregon coach Chip Kelly's rapid rise in college football's coaching ranks. Here's how it starts:

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- They are hardly household names, relatively new to the scene as head coaches, but Auburn’s Gene Chizik and Oregon’s Chip Kelly are nevertheless the envy of their profession, one victory away from sitting atop the college football world.

It’s been a rapid rise for Chizik and Kelly, two second-year coaches who will meet in Monday’s BCS national title game, despite only six years of head coaching experience between them.

Chizik, a defensive coordinator on back-to-back undefeated teams at Auburn in 2004 and Texas in 2005, returned to Auburn as head coach in 2009 after two rocky years at Iowa State.

Kelly, a longtime offensive coach at New Hampshire, a Football Championship Subdivision school, joined Oregon in 2007 as offensive coordinator and succeeded Mike Bellotti after the 2008 season.

“Coaches come from all walks of life,” Kelly said. “It’s just, do you get an opportunity to coach at a certain level?

“I have always felt the big time is where you are at. It doesn’t matter if you are going to play in a game that everyone is going to watch or no one is going to watch; you will approach it the same way.”

Not a whole lot on tap today from Arizona. We get offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn and defensive coordinator Ted Roof after a closed practice this afternoon, but that's it.

In the meantime, check out our stuff in today's paper (and follow the blog on Twitter and Facebook):

• Auburn's Josh Bynes aggressively leads defense
• Tigers make most of last media day
• Notebook: Chizik defends Fairley against 'dirty' talk
• Photo gallery: Auburn's players leave practice
• Photo gallery: Auburn Tigers media day
• Photo gallery: Oregon Ducks media day

I posted some of this last night, but here's our full complement of stories from today. Chris White and Guerry Clegg helped out with the coverage. Here's everything we wrote from Auburn's side:

It's SEC title game day. Plenty more to come once I get into the stadium, so follow the blog on Twitter and Facebook to get instant updates. Here is how today's game advance starts:

AUBURN, Ala. -- Not a soul on Auburn’s roster has taken part in a game the magnitude of today’s SEC championship against South Carolina.

It’s a good thing the Tigers’ coach has.

With a shot at the national championship on the line, No. 1 Auburn (12-0, 8-0 SEC) will look for guidance from coach Gene Chizik, who has been part of two undefeated seasons as an assistant in the last six years.

“None of us have been in this situation before and he has a few times,” left tackle Lee Ziemba said. “He does a good job of making sure our focus is in the right, making sure we’re not looking ahead to different things and we’re focusing on the task at hand.”

Chizik was a part of undefeated teams in back-to-back seasons, serving as Auburn’s defensive coordinator in 2004 before holding the same position during Texas’ 2005 national championship run.

Read the rest here. Also, check out these other stories from today's paper:

• Cam Newton will play in today's SEC title game
• Five reasons why Auburn will win
• Five reasons why South Carolina will win
• Who has the edge: South Carolina or Auburn?

I wrote a story for today's paper about linebacker Eltoro Freeman. Here's how it starts:

AUBURN, Ala. -- Worked into his usual bundle of energy, Auburn linebacker Eltoro Freeman released it with a slight miscalculation last Friday, whiffing on a first-half tackle of Alabama’s Greg McElroy as the quarterback scampered for a first down.

His head hung low, Freeman trudged back to the sideline, fully expecting to hear an earful from the coaches.

Instead, defensive coordinator Ted Roof was reassuring, telling the linebacker it was OK and to get back in the game.

“To hear him say that made my confidence level just shoot up,” Freeman said. “It was just unbelievable. When I went back out there, dawg, I just played free. … I could just play football now. I didn’t have to be on pins, needles, anything.”

He responded with his best game this year, finishing with nine tackles, two tackles for a loss and a sack in Auburn’s 28-27 win, a comeback about as improbable as Freeman’s.

It wasn't an all-Cam Newton day for Auburn stories. I wrote this one about tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen as well. Here's how it starts:

AUBURN, Ala. -- The catch will be replayed for eternity in Iron Bowl circles.

Auburn tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen slipped past Alabama’s defenders, catching a wide open throwback pass from Cam Newton for a 7-yard touchdown that lifted the Tigers to a 28-27 victory last Friday.

Then came the dance. Teammates still can’t quite decide how to describe it.

“The leprechaun dance,” left tackle Lee Ziemba said.

“It looked like a Riverdance to me,” right guard Byron Isom said.

“I asked him: ‘What was that?’” offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said. “He said he was excited. Wow. We’ll give him that one since that was such a big play. We’ll let it go that one time.”

I touched on this in the game story for Saturday's paper, but here's a longer look at Auburn's positioning in the national title race with one game to go:

AUBURN, Ala. -- Gene Chizik isn’t in to statement games, so a question regarding what kind of a declaration Auburn made in a 28-27 come-from-behind win in the Iron Bowl Friday was met with a typical lack of flair.

The Tigers coach stated the facts, plain and simple.

“I don’t know what kind of statement it will make, but we’ve got one more to win,” he said. “If we win that one, then the statement would be that we’re worthy of playing for the national championship.”

All that remains between Auburn (12-0, 8-0 SEC) and its first Bowl Championship Series national championship game appearance is the SEC title game in Atlanta on Saturday against South Carolina.

Win that, and the Tigers, who are currently ranked No. 2 in the BCS rankings, assure themselves of being in one of the top two spots that guarantee a national title game appearance

We've had some time to soak in what happened at the Iron Bowl last night, and, in hindsight: wow, what a game. Nothing in the cooling off period has diminished how thoroughly entertaining that was. Probably one of the top-five games I've covered.

It'll be a long drive to Tuscaloosa this morning, so here's some pre-game reading to pass the time. And be sure to read the matchups blog post from Wednesday by clicking here.

AUBURN, Ala. -- The popular cliche among Auburn fans during Iron Bowl week is that it doesn’t matter whether the Tigers’ record is 11-0 or 0-11, beating Alabama defines the season.

More than just bragging rights are on the line this year, however.

The Tigers (11-0, 7-0 SEC) have bigger goals in mind when they travel to Bryant-Denny Stadium this afternoon. At No. 2 in the Bowl Championship Series rankings, their national title hopes hang in the balance.

“It’s one of those games where if we win, it’s like everything we did was really worth it,” running back Mike Dyer said. “If we lose, it’s like I don’t really know if 11-0, 10-0, 9-0 is really that big of a deal.”

I hope everyone is having a Happy Thanksgiving. Hopefully this Gus Malzahn story from today's newspaper can tide you over until the Iron Bowl. Here's how it starts:

AUBURN, Ala. -- His system is fast, but on the field during the pre-game, Gus Malzahn is slow and meticulous.

Auburn’s second-year offensive coordinator is in his own little world as he walks every inch of the field, pacing up and down the yard lines while inspecting each blade of grass, a thousand football thoughts no doubt racing through his head.

“His football mind doesn’t have an off switch,” offensive line coach Jeff Grimes said. “His mind is always on. That’s one of the things that makes him great. He’s so driven toward success and so focused in his approach.”

Once derided for his recent background as a high school coach, Malzahn, one of the hottest coaching commodities currently in the college game, is not hearing those kind of insults now.

The system many said would never work against the athletic defenses of the SEC currently ranks sixth nationally in total yards.

With three games remaining, Auburn has already set the school record for points in a season (471) and is poised to be only the fourth SEC team in the last decade to average more than 40 points a game for a season.