Welcome to Sanford Stadium on another gorgeous November Saturday in Athens.

Georgia-Auburn is only about two hours away as I type this.

Where does this rivalry game rank for you?

After Florida and Georgia Tech nowadays? Ahead of Tennessee?

“I think it just depends on who you talk to,” quarterback Joe Cox said. “It depends on where you are in Georgia what the biggest rivalry is. Some of the older people in Georgia might have a different thought then the guys that are younger. We just know it’s a big game. It’s one of the rivalries that people talk about.”

These things often don’t turn out as you might expect, but on paper this looks like it could be high-scoring.

Georgia is tied for 10th in the SEC in scoring defense, allowing 26.1 points per game. Auburn is last, giving up 26.6.

You don’t have to grow up in the Deep South to appreciate the Deep South’s oldest rivalry.

Bulldogs tight end Aron White hails from Columbia, Mo., but is reminded about one of the memorable moments of the Georgia-Auburn series with an iconic image.

You know, the one of mascot Uga V going after Auburn receiver Robert Baker after his 21-yard first-quarter touchdown catch in the 1996 game

“That picture is everywhere,” White said. “You walk around Athens and you see it hanging in restaurants; coaches have it hanging on their walls. We’ve got it in hanging in our training room. That’s just a classic moment in the Georgia-Auburn rivalry that really sticks out to me.”

Auburn first-year defensive coordinator Ted Roof will coach in his first game in the rivalry after being involved in the Georgia Tech-Georgia rivalry game as a player and coach for the Yellow Jackets.

Auburn not only leads the Southeastern Conference in total offense, it leads the conference in total offensive plays.

The Tigers, under first-year offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, have run 717 in 10 games in their uptempo style, the sixth most in the nation. Vanderbilt is the next closest in the SEC at 677.

The Commodores are last in the SEC in time of possession. Auburn is 11th.

Auburn’s no-huddle offense varies in its pace, but in portions of games against Arkansas and Ole Miss that I saw, I noticed the Tigers snapping the ball as fast as with 28 seconds left on the 40-second clock to as few as 15 seconds left.

You can set your DVRs now for Saturday or at least know where to tune in for the Auburn game.

The 7 p.m. game will be on ESPN2.

Here's the full Saturday SEC TV schedule:

Tennessee at Ole Miss (12 p.m. ET / CBS Sports)

Kentucky at Vanderbilt (12:21 p.m. ET / SEC Network)

Florida at South Carolina (3:30 p.m. ET / CBS Sports)

Alabama at Mississippi State (7 p.m. ET / ESPN)

Auburn at Georgia (7 p.m. ET / ESPN2)

Louisiana Tech at LSU (7 p.m. ET / ESPNU)

Troy at Arkansas (7:30 p.m. ET / CSS)

Auburn football coach Gene Chizik last week explained the thinking behind Tigers coaches using a limousine for recruiting trips this spring.

Maybe he’ll detail the “Big Cat Weekend,” during SEC Media days next month. Hundreds of Auburn fans showed up for an impromptu pep rally involving recruits at Toomer’s Corner, according to the Dothan Eagle.

Stacy Searels could have been one of the seven Tigers assistant in that limo ride to schools if the Georgia offensive line coach had said yes when Chizik came calling last December.

The Auburn staff already has plenty of SEC flavor.

Trooper Taylor coached at Tennessee. Gus Malzahn at Arkansas. Tracy Rocker at Ole Miss and Arkansas.

Stacy Searels worked his offensive linemen through Georgia’s final on-campus practice Saturday morning.

The team reconvenes in Orlando Dec. 26 to resume Capital One Bowl practices. Will Searels be with them?

If he’s going to join Gene Chizik’s Auburn staff, he may not coach the Bulldogs in the bowl game. Bulldogs coach Mark Richt did not want to deal with that hypothetical on Saturday.

“I think we’ll cross that bridge if it happens," Richt said. "Right now, it’s hard to make a comment on something that you just don’t know is going to happen. It’s not worth it.”

The Auburn job offers Searels a chance to coach at his alma mater. What we don’t know—and Richt said he doesn’t either--is whether it would offer him a chance to offensive coordinator.

We’re getting ready for Georgia’s bowl practices to ramp up with four straight days of workouts starting Wednesday.

Here’s some things that grabbed my attention today before the Bulldogs get going:

--Charles Barkley’s comments to ESPN.com about Auburn’s hiring of Gene Chizik got plenty of attention, but Barkley had more to say to the Buffalo News.
Chizik, who is white, went 5-19 in two seasons at Iowa State. He was defensive coordinator during Auburn’s unbeaten season in 2004. Turner Gill, who is black, won the Mid-American Conference title this season by upsetting previously unbeaten Ball State.

There is plenty of speculation on various message boards that Auburn is interested in hiring Rodney Garner and/or Stacy Searels to join new coach Gene Chizik’s staff.

Georgia coach Mark Richt has not heard from anybody at Auburn seeking permission to speak to the Georgia assistant coaches since Chizik was hired, according to Georgia associate athletic director Claude Felton. Felton said he asked Richt Sunday night whether Auburn has made any contact with him.

Of course, Auburn is the same school that interviewed Bobby Petrino when he was coaching at Louisville for its head coaching job while Tommy Tuberville still had the gig.

Nova, Auburn’s golden eagle, just flew from section 106 and circled Jordan-Hare Stadium in one of the coolest pregame traditions going in the SEC.

Not the most pregame buzz around this game, but that could be dangerous for Georgia.

Just two years ago, the Bulldogs knocked off a No. 5 Auburn team here 37-15. This time Auburn still needs a win to be bowl eligible and is the one trying to pull the upset against the No. 13 Bulldogs.

“There are some similarities to that team,” Georgia fullback Brannan Southerland said. “We’re treating it like any other Auburn game. Even though they might not have the best record this year, they still have tons of athletes and tons of talent on that team. We know they have the people and the coaches to beat us.”