Duke, the No. 2 team in the polls and the NET rankings, is the blue-blooded top competition for Auburn on the national level.

Auburn and Duke are locked in as No. 1 seeds. There are four contenders — right now — for the other two top seeds.

If Frank Thomas had been selected in the Major League Baseball draft coming out of Columbus (Georgia) High School in 1986, he wouldn’t have gone to Auburn to play football. And if he hadn’t wound up ...