Sometime between paying the scalper more than I should have for my seat and spreading my Auburn logo poncho across it in the soaked Legion Field bleachers, it hit me: the great thing about Auburn playing the Birmingham Bowl is how awful it is Auburn’s playing the Birmingham Bowl.
The weather was miserable. The season had been miserable. The offseason to that point — thanks, Boom; thanks, Bama; thanks, Charles Kelly — had been miserable*. And of course, for a massive chunk of Auburn’s fanbase, the venue assignment was maybe most miserable of all. To paraphrase the sentiment I saw expressed by no shortage of Tiger fans in the days leading up to the game: the only thing worse than playing a team still just three seasons removed from Conference USA also-ran-dom in Legion bleeping Field (in the rain!