Tampa, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Auburn was set to play in the BCS National Championship Game and Paul Chryst was finishing up his second season at Pittsburgh this time last year. The landscape at the start of 2015 is decidedly different for both parties, as the 19th-ranked Tigers settled for playing in the Outback bowl against Chrysts new team, the 17th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Jan. 1. The Tigers were once again in the title picture this season before a late- season collapse. While its offense put up big numbers on a weekly basis, Auburns defense was not up to par, which cost coordinator Ellis Johnson his job just hours after the Tigers surrendered 55 points to rival Alabama in the Iron Bowl. That loss dropped the Tigers to 8-4 overall and was their third straight conference setback. They wound up allowing 32.8 ppg against conference opponents and finished 4-4 against them. Charlie Harbison will serve as the defensive coordinator on New Years Day, but newly hired Will Muschamp was with the team during practice this month and will certainly be tuned in for the finale. Head coach Gus Malzahn knows his defensive players are under the microscope. Theyre trying to impress him, trying to show what they can do, Malzahn said of the recently-fired Florida head coach. Theyre in evaluation mode and hes trying to evaluate what we have and thinking about next year and putting his pieces of the puzzle. Linebacker Cassanova McKinzy finished second of the team in total tackles (82) and first in tackles for loss (10). Defensive back Jonathan Jones recorded three of the teams SEC-best 19 interceptions and was named to the All-SEC First Team. While the defense will undoubtedly be in good hands under Muschamp in the near future, theres not much Auburns offense can improve upon after putting up 35.8 points and 489.2 yards per game. Nine more points would give Auburn 439 on the season, which would rank third in school history behind the 2010 and 2013 squads. The offense is anchored by First-Team SEC center Reese Dismukes and boasts a talented backfield in Nick Marshall and Cameron Artis-Payne. After guiding the Tigers to within one late Florida State drive of a national title his first year under center, Marshall again showed his dual-threat ability by throwing for 2,315 yards and adding 780 more on the ground. He accounted for 29 total touchdowns, 18 through the air, and needs just 37 rushing yards to pass Phil Gargis for the most by an Auburn QB. Artis-Payne led the SEC at 127.7 rushing ypg and scored 11 touchdowns, while leading receiver Duke Williams, a junior college transfer, leads the Tigers with 45 receptions for 730 yards (16.2 yds/catch) and five TDs. Williams has been struck with an illness over the break and has not practiced. His status for the game is unknown. As far as special teams go, Auburn finished third nationally at 17.8 yards per punt return thanks to Quan Bray, who took two back for touchdowns. The Tigers are 22-14-2 all-time in bowl games, while Wisconsin is 11-14 in the postseason. Twelve of those bowl appearances came with Barry Alvarez as the Badgers head coach. Alvarez, the schools athletic director, is serving as interim head coach for this game as Chryst gets acclimated with the program after being hired on Dec. 17. A number of the seniors met with me...and asked if I would consider coaching the team, Alvarez said. I feel this gives our assistants an opportunity to concentrate on getting the team ready for a very good opponent in Auburn. My goal is to make sure our players, especially the seniors playing their last game, have a memorable experience and we do everything we can to prepare to win the game. Chryst is taking over for Gary Andersen, who decided to leave for Oregon State following the Badgers embarrassing 59-0 loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten title game. Melvin Gordon was held to 76 yards in that forgettable contest, soiling what was otherwise one of the most prolific seasons by a running back in FBS history. Gordon, who has a year left of eligibility, rushed for a then-FBS record 408 yards against Nebraska in November and ended the season with an FBS-leading 2,336 yards rushing, the fourth-best total all-time. He finished as a runner-up to Heisman Trophy-winner Marcus Mariota, and one touchdown in the Outback Bowl will give Gordon 30 on the season. Only Oklahoma States Barry Sanders (1988) and UCFs Kevin Smith (2007) finished with at least 2,000 rushing yards and 30 TDs in an FBS season. Corey Clement has served as an adequate backup to Gordon, totaling 830 yards and eight TDs, while Tanner McEvoy, the teams second-string QB, has added 572 yards and six TDs on the ground. Joel Stave (79-of-136, 1,042 yards, eight TDs, four INTs) is not asked to do a lot through the air, but when he does, he often looks for wide receiver Alex Ericson, who has 44 receptions for 651 yards and three TDs, or tight end Sam Arneson, who brought in 25 passes for 331 yards and four TDs. The blowout to Ohio State was an outlier for Wisconsin, which ranked fourth in FBS in total defense by allowing just 283.2 ypg. The Badgers also ranked No. 13 in scoring defense (20.0 ppg), No. 17 in rushing defense (118.9 ypg) and No. 5 in passing defense (164.3 ypg). This bowl has pitted programs from the SEC and Big Ten against each other since 1995, and the former has won four of the last five years. Auburn and Wisconsin met in the Capital One Bowl nine years ago, and the Badgers earned a 24-10 victory in what, incidentally, was Alvarezs final game in his 16-year tenure as head coach. Anthony Martial Jersey . Fans in the Jets viewing region can watch the game on TSN Jets at 5:30pm ct and listeners can tune in to TSN Radio 1290 Winnipeg. Eric Bailly Jersey . Third-place Madrid fell behind and settled for a 2-2 draw earlier at Osasuna in a match both sides finished with 10 men, and Barcelona didnt let the chance escape. Barcelona, still without the injured Lionel Messi, again turned to Neymar after his hat trick against Celtic in the Champions League on Wednesday to convert a penalty on the half-hour mark and restore the lead in the 68th after Villarreal levelled. http://www.manunitedfcpro.com/Kids-Marcus-Rashford-Jersey/ . - The New England Patriots needed help on defence so they added three experienced players at midseason. Marcos Rojo Jersey . Philbin said Thursday he wants players to treat one another with civility and he wont tolerate anything less. In taking questions for the first time since Ted Wells released his report into the bullying scandal that rocked the league, Philbin made it clear things would be cleaned up. Manchester United Jerseys . Edmonton opened the season with 14 straight victories before falling Friday night 10-8 to the host Colorado Mammoth in National Lacrosse League action.DURHAM, N.C. -- Nobody expected Vermont to give No. 6 Duke much of a scare. Yet the Catamounts found a way to score seemingly at will against a program built on defence, and they came perhaps a moment shy of pulling the biggest upset of the young season. Duke needed a free throw from Rodney Hood with 5 seconds left and one final defensive stand to hold off Vermonts upset bid and beat the Catamounts 91-90 on Sunday night. Hector Harold scored 24 points and Clancy Rugg finished with 20 for Vermont (1-5). The America East favourites lost their fourth straight, dressed only nine healthy players but gave Duke all it could handle with by far its best shooting performance of the season. They "came into Duke with no pressure on us, and we played like there was no pressure on us," coach John Becker said. "Maybe this is a lesson learned for our guys." Vermont shot 64.8 per cent -- by far, its best performance of the season and the worst defensive showing by Duke. "We compete and play defence every game and every day at practice," Becker said. "Tonight, the ball went through the basket, and we were able to hang around with a really good team." Candon Rusins four-point play with 10.4 seconds left for Vermont tied it at 90. Hood brought the ball downcourt, drove the lane and drew contact from Rugg. Hood bounced his first free throw off the rim, then swished the second. Sandro Carissimo hurried the Catamounts downcourt and found Rusin in the corner, but he couldnt get a shot off before the buzzer. "We didnt win this game," Hood said. "We kind of deserved to lose the game, and we got lucky." Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said the Catamounts "were terrific." "And we were awful," he added. Jabari Parker scored 26 pooints in his sixth straight 20-point performance.ddddddddddddHood finished with 22 for Duke (5-1), which extended its nonconference winning streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium to 106 games. Barely. "We played like a team that thought we would just show up and win," Krzyzewski said. "Thats how you get beat." Andre Dawkins scored 16 points and Quinn Cook added 14 for the Blue Devils. Cook broke a tie with a 3-pointer with just under 2 minutes left that made it 86-83. They stretched their lead to 88-84 on Rasheed Sulaimons free throw with 40.8 seconds to play before Carissimo made it a two-point game with his tip-in with 29 seconds remaining. Cook seemingly gave Duke a cushion when his two free throws with 19.4 seconds left made it 90-86 -- but when Sulaimon fouled Rusin on his deep 3-pointer, the Catamounts had another chance. Carissimo finished with 16 points and Luke Apfeld had 10 for Vermont, which fell to 3-17 against ACC schools and is winless against all of them except for Boston College. Yet the Catamounts looked plenty capable of taking advantage of a ripe Duke team that struggled all night to stop them. "Were not connected on the defensive end," Hood said. When the Blue Devils built a 61-49 lead on Parkers steal and fast-break dunk with 15 1/2 minutes left, that looked like the spark that would get the sluggish Duke defence going. Instead, Vermont reeled off 10 straight points after that as part of a 13-2 run. Harolds three-point play pulled the Catamounts to 63-62 with just over 11 minutes left. Carissimos free throw with 7:50 left tied it at 71. 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