At Peach Bowl, Gus Malzahn looks toward future at Auburn

ATLANTA -- Maybe this isn't the exact return to Mercedes-Benz Stadium that Auburn coach Gus Malzahn had in mind when he was here a month ago. It was then, on the eve of the SEC title game, that his Tigers still had a shot at making the College Football Playoff and competing for an opportunity to appear in the national championship game, to be played here on Jan. 8.

Then a magical regular season, which began with two early losses and ended with five straight victories -- including wins over rivals and then-No. 1 teams Georgia and Alabama -- turned into a nightmare postseason. The Tigers, ranked No. 2 in the next-to-last playoff poll, were dominated in the conference championship game, losing…