Comments from People

Hey everyone. We have just concluded the Outback Bowl teleconference with a few people whose opinions matter.

Let's do this.

JIM McVAY, Outback Bowl czar


• On why he picked Auburn, a West team, after taking East teams for 13 consecutive years: ``There were a number of really good teams with 7-5 records. We watched Auburn all year. A lot of really, really good things kept coming up about Auburn. We typically take teams from the East -- but we've talked about having a better way of getting better circulation in the West. It was the perfect opportunity and the perfect time to bring Auburn back."
  
  
• On why he picked Northwestern over Wisconsin: ``Wisconsin and Northwestern played a couple weeks ago and Northwestern beat them. It just seemed like they would be a team ... the head-to-head was really the final decision. We're going to bring a team to our game that hasn't been to the Outback Bowl. They're a fun and wide-open offense. It really came down to how Northwestern won that game (against Wisconsin) and they deserved it."
  
  
• On the significance of Auburn's win against Tennessee on how this all played out: ``It absolutely added to the argument. Auburn beat Tennessee. Auburn beat Ole Miss. And then the way they played against Alabama. I think Auburn can play with anybody in the country."

JAY JACOBS, Auburn athletic director


• On how aggressive he was in pursuing this deal: ``I'm not sure we took a more active role than some of my peers in the league. We began to contact bowls to find out what they needed from us to make a good business decision. We were very proactive what we were doing all day Sunday and all day Monday."
  
  
• On what he's expecting in terms of ticket sales: ``We went ahead and put options up there on the tickets. There were good reasons for it not being official (until today). Based on the chatter and the emails and everything during the past week, it's been going very, very well. We expect it to be very, very successful."

GENE CHIZIK, Auburn football coach


• On what this bowl means to Le Programme: ``What we wanted to do this year was start building a foundation for a great, great future. You sit there and you look at being able to end the season with an Outback bowl invitation with a good team from team from the Big 10. What does everybody want? A New Year's Day bowl game."
  
  
• More along those same lines: ``Ending the year like this gets our fans … in a frenzy. It's important in terms of people seeing where this program is headed."

BEN TATE, tailback


• On his reaction to finding out Auburn was selected for the Outback
  Bowl: ``I was excited when I heard we were going to the Outback Bowl. It’s a great reward for us. To get a bid to a New Year’s Day bowl shows how much respect people have for Auburn, since they picked us over so many other teams they could have taken. I’m just really looking forward to playing Northwestern, having fun, and doing our best to win the game."