S. Carolina 17 - 56 Auburn (Final)

Auburn cruises home with a surprisingly easy victory. The Tigers take the UCFC, and they are headed to Glendale, Arizona for a matchup in the BCS Championship game with Oregon. Once again, the national title and the UCFC will be united.

Carolina, which has played such a major role in the UCFC this year, falls to 7-13 all-time in UCFC games.

Auburn -- SEC Champion for the seventh time in its history -- takes the UCFC for the first time since 2007, and runs its all-time record in UCFC games to 14-8. After a very exciting year of UCFC play, they are a very worthy holder as we head into the bowl season. It's ironic that a year that began with Alabama holding the title ends with Auburn on top. And I know at least one Auburn fan who is really looking forward to seeing this web page in dark blue and orange.

S. Carolina 14 - 49 Auburn (11:14 left in 4th quarter)

So it's come to this. Auburn's lead is so big that Mrs. GoHeath has actually started watching the game. She saw Cam Newton (333 passing yds, 74 rushing yds) lead Auburn to yet another touchdown as the party continues for the Tigers.

S. Carolina 14 - 42 Auburn (7:23 left in the 3d quarter)

South Carolina fans, another group used to hard luck, have probably wondered at their good fortune in recent weeks -- their first SEC East title, the win over Clemson, the UCFC. They may have believed that Lady Luck was finally on their side. In reality, she was simply setting them up so that Auburn fans could have the joy of beating Steve Spurrier twice in one year.

Carolina, desperately trying to get back into the game, throws an interception that is run back for a touchdown. Auburn fans -- a notoriously gloomy group -- should now be able to truly enjoy the rest of the evening.

S. Carolina 14 - 35 Auburn (7:56 left in 3d quarter)

It's Cam Newton's world, and the rest of the SEC is just living in it. The best player Auburn has had since Bo Jackson has now thrown for 326 yards, rushed for 64, and he just led Auburn to yet another touchdown. This may be the best game Auburn's played all year.

The Auburn fans are already looking forward to a month of seeing this web page in dark blue and orange. And it looks as though the UCFC will once again be decided in the BCS title game.

S. Carolina 14 - 28 Auburn (10:42 left in 3d quarter)

Carolina opens the half with a pretty nice drive, but it stalls and the Gamecocks miss a 32-yard field goal.

S. Carolina 14 - 28 Auburn (Halftime)

Oh, my!

All year, Auburn has won game after game under remarkable circumstances -- it's as if all the hard luck Auburn fans have experienced is being paid back in a single season.

And now it's happened again. On the last play of the first half, Auburn has the ball on its own 49. Cam Newton rolls to his right and throws the Hail Mary pass. It's tipped by South Carolina, tipped again -- AND CAUGHT! FOR A TOUCHDOWN! ON THE LAST PLAY OF THE HALF!

So Auburn takes a 14-point lead into the locker room, and they can smell the UCFC now.

S. Carolina 14 - 21 Auburn (16 seconds left in 2d quarter)

For a long time, this game was poised at a very dangerous position for Carolina, but Auburn has not been able to get the extra TD that would have broken things open. Finally, with about two minutes left in the half, Auburn missed a field goal -- and Carolina struck with a spectacular drive that has brought them to within a touchdown.

S. Carolina 7 - 21 Auburn (2:09 left in 1st quarter)

Auburn has just been unstoppable. Newton has already thrown for 183 yards and two touchdowns.

S. Carolina 7 - 14 Auburn (3 minutes left in 1st quarter)

So we have opened with a fusillade of scoring, as I expected.

S. Carolina v. Auburn

South Carolina did not join the SEC until 1992, and for most of their history the Gamecocks did not play Auburn. In fact, the teams met only four times prior to 1996 -- in a four-game series that lasted from 1930 to 1933 with games played in Columbus, Ga., Montgomery, Ala., and Birmingham, Ala. Auburn won two of those games, the Gamecocks one, and another ended in a tie.

Since the Gamecocks joined the SEC, this fixture has been played only five times, with Auburn winning all five. The most important of those games was probably the one played earlier this year. On September 25, Carolina took an early lead at Auburn but fell apart with a series of silly turnovers -- and too much Cam Newton -- down the stretch. Auburn won 35-27 and was on its way to an undefeated regular season.

I think this game will be a total war. Carolina has been playing really well of late, and Auburn doesn't blow a lot of people out. So this should be another close, high-scoring game.