PREVIEW: Auburn vs Nicholls State

It's finally here. The 2013 season is upon us! It seems like its been forever since last season's miserable end, but the Nicholls State Colonels are coming to town, so I'm here to get you ready for the game.

First, before we zoom in on the Colonels, a little about our side of the ball.

(Kyle Taylor)

• The Tigers will have 7 new players playing in a non-exhibition game for the first time tonight, which may be some kind of record at Auburn.
• Freshman center Matthew Atewe will not play tonight, still nursing a foot injury.
• Auburn averaged 104 points in their two exhibition games, but I wouldn't expect that to hold for very long.
• Guessing a Tony Barbee starting lineup can be like trying to guess the winning lottery numbers, but I have a feeling that we'll see Tahj Shamsid-Deen, Chris Denson, KT Harrell, Chris Griffin, and Asauhn Dixon-Tatum get the start tonight.

 Now some fun facts about Nicholls State:

• Nicholls State University, located in Thibodaux, Louisiana, refers to itself as "Our Harvard on the Bayou," which is one of the most adorable things I've heard this week.
• The Colonels finished 5th in the Southland Conference last season, falling in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament to McNeese State.
• In the mid-2000s, Nicholls State was involved in an Ole Miss-esque mascot controversy, causing their mascot, Colonel Tillou, to be retired from 2004-2009. The university unveiled the new mascot in 2009, turning the southern slave-owning Colonel Tillou into some sort of cross between Street Fighter's M. Bison, a Nazi tank commander, and a zombie. Yikes.

The racist (left) and fascist (right) versions of Colonel Tillou

• Nicholls State struggled in their exhibition game against Mobile, needing a final 10-4 run to put away the Rams. This may have been because the two Colonel players that played over 30 minutes were also their worst shooters, with Dantrell Thomas and Shane Rilleaux shooting for a combined 6-for-21 from the field and 1-for-6 from three point land.

Here's some other miscellaneous info about tonight's game.

• The first 2000 fans at the game will receive a free schedule magnet. Yay!
• The Arena doors open at 5:30 for everyone, seeing as nobody has their Jungle shirts yet.
• Speaking of Jungle shirts, if you've signed up for the Jungle by noon on Friday you can pick yours up and wear it at the game.

Well, that's about all I have for the Nicholls State game. Check back on the blog for a game recap and much more as the season kicks into full swing today! Happy basketball season!