Having been gifted the Night Thread with little time to plan, I’m going to use this as an excuse to rhapsodize over the Most Amazing College Football Season Ever – and yes, I’m biased – apologies in advance to Allison:

It was 2013, Gus Malzahn’s first season as head coach of the Auburn Tigers, and no one expected the Plainsmen War Eagles Tigers to be a factor after a dismal 2012 season, in which Auburn went winless in the SEC. These Tigers weren’t on anyone’s radar, but after six wins, they were grudgingly admitted to the Top 25 (at #24) and promptly beat #7 Texas A&M.

From there, Auburn steadily climbed the rankings until they faced perennial rival Georgia and won thanks to the “Miracle at Jordan-Hare,” wherein Ricardo Louis caught a Hail Mary pass from Nick Marshall for a touchdown in the waning minutes of the game.

At this point, it was an already legendary season, with a WTF play already destined to be shown on ESPN for the foreseeable future. But wait, there’s more: The IRON BOWL, the annual matchup between in-state rivals Auburn and Alabama, this year with higher stakes than ever with Auburn at #4 and Alabama at #1, facing off in Auburn’s stadium.

It was, by any measure, a great f’ing game, but oh, that ending:

Perfection. Auburn went on to beat Missouri for the SEC Championship and then lose to Florida State in the National Championship Game (narrative failure!), but it was a hell of a season. In short, War Eagle.

Have a great Night Thread, everybody!