There will be many ways to remember the 2024 Auburn football season. Some will rue the close losses that the Tigers seemed to throw away. Others will remember the upset victory over Texas A&M, an epic four-overtime game with more ups and downs than a roller coaster.

For me, it will be about a team that didn't give up on each other when it would have been so easy to. Auburn fans saw what a team that had thrown in the towel looked like in 2008 and 2012. Those teams were more interested in getting to the offseason than putting up a fight on the field. Say what you want about Payton Thorne, but he could have sulked after getting bench following the California game. He didn't, and while the results haven't been great, he has responded with some solid play.

So that's how I will remember Year 2 of the Hugh Freeze era on the Plains. Give credit to the coaches for keeping everything together. Give credit to the fans for sticking it out and making Jordan-Hare a living hell for the Aggies last Saturday. And, extraordinary credit to the players for battling even when things weren't going their way.

Now, if I can adjust my belt buckle for the fifth time in the last 24 hours, let's dive into some ramblings.

- A few friends and I were recently discussing things we thought were fancy when we were kids, and my answer was the first time I ever went to an Outback Steakhouse. It was somewhere outside Cocoa, Fla., in 1993, and we waited more than two hours to sit down. Typing that just now made me laugh out loud. We waited that long for frigging Outback? Incredible. Anyway, to my 12-year-old self, it was the fanciest thing ever.

- While I was golfing the other day (oh no, trigger point!), I had Garth Brooks radio on Pandora playing. His song "That Summer" came on, and let me just tell you, I had forgotten how disturbing those lyrics are.

- Full confession: for a large part of the 1990s, I was a big Duke basketball fan just to play contrarian to my friends and family after the 1992 Duke-Kentucky game. Come full circle, and on Wednesday, I will be covering Auburn, my alma mater, at Cameron Indoor Stadium against the Blue Devils. I no longer care about Duke basketball, so there's no conflict of feelings.

- I'm starting a campaign to get one basketball game a year at Neville Arena to be student-only. Could you imagine 9,000 screaming students yelling the entire time? Sure, some boosters and season-ticket holders will be mad, but I think it would make an amazing atmosphere.

- Meet Charlie, my best friend who stared at me during our entire Thanksgiving dinner, hoping for someone to drop a piece of turkey or two. Dog rating: 17 out of 10.

- So there's a TikTok trend where, for some odd reason, parents throw a slice of cheese on an infant's face to make them smile. Who started this, and how do I get child services after them?

- Why is picking a scab so enjoyable? I'll just leave that there.

- Can you imagine being a Washington State or Oregon State fan where your schedule goes from facing USC, Oregon, Utah and other power schools on a yearly basis to facing a Mountain West schedule? That's like if Auburn traded its schedule for the Sun Belt.

- Look at this glorious picture of Bruce Pearl with the Maui Invitational trophy. He could beat you on the court with his coaching and then kick your ass off of it.

- Dylan Cardwell is one of the most incredible guys I have ever had the pleasure to cover, and if you don't think so, watch this clip of him answering a question following Wednesday's victory against Memphis. That's class and leadership. Okay, you can stop looking at things now .... wait, one more.

- TikTok of the Week: More good doggy material.

- I was in charge of making my world-famous deviled eggs for a Thanksgiving get-together. Did I come through? No. I botched it harder than the Chicago Bears' coach did on Thursday evening. I'm still hanging my head in shame.

- If you are the praying type, please say a prayer for one of my best buddies and my golf member/member partner after his father passed away this week. Love you, buddy.

- Finally, I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving on Thursday with fantastic food, friends and family. Now, if you don't mind, it's time: HERE COME THE BELLS, HERE COME THE BELLS, HERE COME THE BELLS!!!