We've reached the month of November on the calendar, which means a few things. First, the worst holiday of the year, Halloween, is done with, while the best holiday, Thanksgiving, is just a few weeks away. Second, the last month of the college football regular season has arrived, which is always a sad time of the year.

But finally, basketball season is here, and with that, Bruce Pearl's squad will take the floor tonight at Neville Arena to battle AUM in an exhibition game before opening the schedule on Tuesday in South Dakota against Baylor.

So, how will the Tigers be this season? I think they have a shot at being pretty good, especially offensively, where they have upgraded in both shooters and size. Additionally, Johni Broome's confidence and play are at an all-time high, while the point guard situation is talented but inexperienced. It should be yet another exciting season with Pearl at the helm. Let's get into some ramblings.

- It was strange not seeing my friend Mike Leach on the sidelines on Saturday when Mississippi State came to town. I know I wrote about our friendship after his passing, but that man got me through some tough times. It was good to see a couple of his former assistants, though.

- I found myself letting out a little guffaw (trademark, Jay G. Tate) after Hugh Freeze got done addressing the Tigers scoring only three points in the second half against MSU during his press conference on Monday only because it was so fresh to see a coach not go into coachspeak when explaining something. Also, that question had already been asked on Saturday following the game.

- Mindlessly listening to SiriusXM the other day, Britney Spears' "Oops! ... I Did It Again" came on, and I had totally forgotten about the bridge where she's talking to a man who dove to the bottom of the sea to get the famous necklace from the movie Titanic. What a dated reference. Also, that old lady in the movie was greedy as hell for tossing that thing away at the end. I'm pretty sure I yelled at the movie screen in the cinema when she did that.

- Titanic came out in my junior year of high school, and it got me thinking about how weird the ages of 5-18 are for everyone. You have this core group of friends that you swear you will be friends with forever, and then BOOM! You graduate and see or talk to maybe five percent of them ever again. That may not be the case for some, but it is for me.

- The Michigan sign-stealing scandal is hilarious to me only because of the amount of effort this guy put into getting onto the sidelines and having friends record other team's play calls. And if Jim Harbaugh denies knowing anything about it, and you believe that, well, I feel sorry for you. There's no way other coaches are aware of it, and he's not. No chance.

- For as long as I can remember, we had a pool table in our basement in the house I grew up in. Now, that is a normal thing, but we weren't precisely pool players, nor was my father. And I don't remember it ever being used for parties or during sleepovers except for a base for a ping pong table. So my question is this: why did we have a pool table?

- Lance Leipold should garner attention from other schools after what he has done at Kansas. He took over a program in way worse shape than anyone can imagine and has made them competitive, including the upset win over Oklahoma on Saturday. I'm certain some bigger schools with openings will be calling.

- It still baffles me to this day that Alex McPherson can kick the ball so far despite his tiny frame. If you saw him on the street, you would think he was just an average college student, not one of the best kickers in college football. Speaking of, has Auburn officially become Place Kicker U? There's a strong argument for that.

- Payton Thorne compared playing at Vanderbilt, which he will for the first time on Saturday, to playing at Northwestern, and from someone who has been both places for a game, he's not wrong. Both are stale atmospheres where the away fans often outnumber the home supporters. I'm just looking forward to hearing Auburn players describe the locker room situation at Vandy next week.

- During my trip to Arkansas next weekend, I will be staying in Bentonville for two nights, which is the home of Walmart. I didn't go to Walmart much growing up, but my best friend Scott and I did love playing the crane game at the entrance of the local one. I was deadly at that game. If it were an Olympic sport, I would win the gold medal every time. That's the facts.

- Remember when Shane Beamer was the next up-and-coming head coach who was doing everything right? That seems so long ago. And his cross-state rival, Dabo Swinney, is doing a heck of a job drawing attention away from the fact that his team is 4-4.

- TikTok of the Week: This is the greatest version of Radiohead's "Creep" I have ever heard.

- Between the Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce drama and the Los Angeles Chargers uber fan who gets tickets in the front row and the television always finds her, I now think the NFL is as staged as a Broadway production.

- Finally, while the show hasn't exactly aged perfectly, it's hard for those who weren't alive in the 1990s to understand how massive Friends was as a TV show and cultural phenomenon. You didn't go anywhere on Thursday nights except in front of your television. It was seriously Must See TV, and the show was so trend-setting at the time. I miss those nights of knowing you have to be on your couch at 8 p.m. or you would miss out on what everyone would be talking about the next day. As somewhat of a smart-aleck myself, I found Chandler Bing hilarious and loved using some of his retorts. Phoebe and Joey were still the best characters, though. Wait, let's actually rank them:

4,825 - Ross

4,824-6 - Every other not main cast member

5. Monica

4. Rachel

3. Chandler

2. Joey

1. Phoebe