Does the football season have you down in the dumps? Are you dreading the incoming time change when it gets dark at approximately noon in East Alabama? Already stressing about finding the perfect gift for your loved ones for the holidays?

Well, I have a cure for you, and it doesn’t come in any bottle. No, it comes in the form of Auburn basketball and is officially back today. Yes, you can celebrate. Bruce Pearl and the boys are back, and it promises to be another amazing season inside Neville Arena.

Oh, how we have missed the mean-mugging of K.D. Johnson and the chip he wears on his shoulder the size of Jupiter. Memes? They will be plentiful as the guard takes it personally whenever a defender tries to guard him.

Wendell Green from 30 feet. Zep Jasper is so far up in a player’s grill that he can do dental work. Dylan Cardwell taking a bow after a dunk that brings the arena to an ear-piercing volume. You missed those moments, didn’t you?

The Tigers have the new and the old. Jaylin Williams, Allen Flanigan and Stretch return for their fourth year in an Auburn jersey. Johni Broome, Yohan Traore, Tre Donaldson and (sometime soon) Chance Westry appear in orange and blue for the first time.

Last season ended with a sour taste in everyone’s mouths as Auburn took an early exit from the NCAA Tournament after a historic season. Gone, of course, are two first-round draft picks in Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler. That kind of production will be hard to replace, but oh, in Pearl you should trust.

The Jungle will be rocking again, proving to be the best – and definitely rowdiest – student section in college basketball. They will be ready to make opponents wilt at the sheer volume of noise, and that might come 60 minutes before the ball is even tipped. The Hogs, Gators, Dawgs and Vols will have no idea what hit them when they emerge out of the tunnel. Needless to say, neither will the Tide.

Expectations are real on the Plains now and will continue to be as long as Pearl continues to be in charge. Were they picked to finish fourth in the SEC? Please. That isn’t the standard at Auburn now.

A less-than-sellout crowd? Ha. Pure insanity. Never before has the Auburn fan base been more intrigued, involved and purely ecstatic about a program than now. In 2018, the SEC regular season title was great. The 2019 SEC Tournament championship and run to the Final Four were grand. Last year, the program’s first-ever No. 1 ranking took this program to another level.

Now, it is time for more. More College GameDay visits. More 5-star recruits walking away wowed with what Auburn basketball has become. More fans leaving a game with no voice and a giant smile on their face. More history.

Auburn basketball is officially back and ready to show college basketball how it’s done. Rejoice!