AUBURN is a pretty town in the middle of nowhere. It’s in eastern Alabama, 100 miles from Atlanta, just off I-85. It’s a classic college town, dominated by Auburn University. Once a cow college, Auburn is now a major state university with 25,000 students. It’s a conservative place with fraternities and sororities and heavy student participation in religious activities. I can’t prove it, but my guess is the student body voted overwhelmingly for President Bush last month.

Auburn has an unbeaten football team, but it won’t play in the national championship game in Miami on January 4. The fact that the school is off the beaten track is one reason for this oversight. The sports establishment doesn’t flock to Auburn for football games the way it does to Los Angeles to watch USC or to Norman, Oklahoma, to see the Sooners. But Auburn has a great athletic tradition. Bo Jackson played football there. Charles Barkley was a basketball star and still shows up for football games. Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium seats 90,000 fans and games begin only after an eagle circles the field and lands at the 50-yard line. Hence, the Auburn greeting, “War eagle!”