Auburn.  Virginia.  Atlanta.  Chick-fil-A.

That’s how last season ended in the Georgia Dome as the Tigers beat the Cavaliers 43-24 in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl.  But if a Virginia blog is correct, it appears those two schools have agreed to meet again to open the 2015 season in the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff.

Cavalier fans who have received this year’s season-tickets have found a list of future opponents listed beside said tickets.  And, yep, a date with Auburn in Atlanta is listed right there as the opener in 2015:

This season, the Chick-fil-A opener will feature a doubleheader of Tennessee-NC State and Auburn Clemson.  In 2013, Alabama will face Virginia Tech.  In 2014, Ole Miss-Boise State and Alabama-West Virginia will take part in a double-header.

Tennessee has received a commitment from cornerback Cameron Sutton from Jonesboro (Ga.) High School.

He gave his pledge during a visit to Knoxville with his parents on Tuesday.

“I remember my first time I came here, out of all the schools I visited this is the one place where I just came home to my parents and was like, ‘Mom and dad, this is where I see myself,’” Sutton told Volquest.com. “And this time they got a chance to see for themselves and witness for their own eyes.”

Sutton’s scholarship offers included Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, South Carolina, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.

Cornerbacks coach Derrick Ansley helped give Tennessee and edge in its recruitment of Sutton.

“Strong relationship,” Sutton said. “We talk on a consistent basis, more than once a week, maybe twice, three times. Now that I committed and coming here in the near future it’s going to get stronger.”

Sutton’s commitment gave Tennessee a stronger standing in the team recruiting rankings for 2013.

The Vols have the nation’s No. 17 class in the Rivals ranking – tied with Vanderbilt for eighth best in the SEC. The Vols are ranked No. 20 in the nation by 247Sports, which is ninth best among SEC teams.

Vanderbilt has once again found recruiting success in the state of Georgia.

The Commodores received a commitment Thursday from Alpharetta High School wide receiver Carlos Burse, who’s considered to be the 27th-best prospect in the state of Georgia and No. 277 prospect overall by ESPN RecruitingNation.

Burse chose Vanderbilt over offers from Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech.

“It was the academics mainly, and I wanted to build my own little legacy over there,” Burse told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Vanderbilt showed me the most interest.”

Burse is the 10th prospect to commit to Vanderbilt for 2013 and the fourth prospect from Georgia. Quarterback Johnathon McCrary from Ellenwood, Ga., was the first prospect to commit to Vanderbilt for 2013.

Auburn has received a commitment from defensive end Tashawn Bower from Immaculata High School in Somerville, N.J.

Bower’s offer list included South Carolina, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State and Virginia Tech. He told AuburnSports.com his commitment to Auburn is solid.

“I’m shutting it down,” Bower said. “I’m done. I’m going to Auburn.”

Bower made that decision after visiting the school’s campus the first weekend of June.

“I felt great about the place when I was down there and then came home and slept on it, thought about it and still had the same feelings and decided to go ahead and do it.”

Bower is Auburn’s 12th commitment for the class of 2013.

South Carolina went to the state of Georgia this weekend to bolster its offensive line.

Alan Knott and J.P. Vonashek both committed to South Carolina to give the Gamecocks 17 commitments – four on the offensive line – for the class of 2013.

“It was either going to be South Carolina or Georgia, and I felt South Carolina was the best place for me,” Vonashek told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I went there for a visit and I really enjoyed it. It’s close to home and I think they are going to have a great program for the next couple of years.”

Vonashek, who attends Camden County High School in Kingsland, Ga., is considered the nation’s 32nd-best offensive tackle by ESPN RecruitingNation.

Knott, who attends Sandy Creek High School in Tyrone, Ga., is ranked 11 spots higher than that on ESPN’s list. His list of offers include Miami, North Carolina and Virginia Tech. He’s expected to take an unofficial visit to South Carolina on Thursday, according to GamecockCentral.com.

Shhhh.

Whenever we mention anything about a nine-game conference schedule, a few folks get nasty in our comment section.  So darn you, Nick Saban.  It’s too bad you had to go and open up about wanting to move to a — wait for it — nine-game schedule.  (And if some of you don’t want to read the news, folks, no one’s making you.)

“I’m satisfied with what everybody determined, but in all honesty, I was kind of for playing more games.  When you increase the size of the league by 15 percent, you’ve almost got to play more games to get a true indication of who is the best team in the league.  I think we should come up with some format in the future where every player in the league gets an opportunity to play every team in the league.  We’ve kind of had that in the past.  This format won’t necessarily give every player an opportunity to do that.”

Saban said it was the schools already playing nine BCS-level games via annual, year-end rivals who scuttled the plan for nine league games.  Nevermind the fact that Alabama has been playing nine BCS foes per year throughout Saban’s tremendous run — Virginia Tech, Clemson, Penn State, and this year Michigan.  For that matter, LSU played 10 BCS-level foes last season including Oregon at neutral site and West Virginia on the road.  At least some schools aren’t afraid to mix it up with a few more big boys each season.

“In some cases, whether it’s Florida having to play Florida State, South Carolina-Clemson, Georgia-Georgia Tech, they already have another game that’s a tough game for them,” Saban told The Tuscaloosa News.  “So when you play more conference games, now their schedule gets a little overloaded the other way.”

Unless of course you consider schools like Alabama who’ve been “overloading” their schedules the other way for national exposure, recruiting boosts, and strength of schedule help in the BCS formula.

Ah, well.  The league will be forced to go to nine games soon enough.

Linebacker Matt Rolin from Briar Woods High School in Ashburn, Va., announced his commitment to South Carolina during a visit to Columbia on Friday afternoon.

Can’t spell South caROLINa without Rolin! Committed to The University of South caROLINa!!!! #GamecockNation twitter.com/oVo_Stunna/sta…

— Matt Rolin (@oVo_Stunna) May 25, 2012

Rolin chose South Carolina over Florida State and Virginia Tech.

“I did a lot of thinking over the last few weeks,” Rolin told ESPN RecruitingNation via text message. “In the end it came down to South Carolina, (Virginia Tech) and FSU. I had the gut feeling that South Carolina was the place for me. So I took this visit just to make sure it was right. And it was! I love everything about South Carolina and having my whole family here makes me feel really comfortable coming here!!”

Rolin is ranked the nation’s eighth-best outside linebacker and No. 104 player in the nation by ESPNU.

Let’s start with the expansion stuff, shall we?  (And beware… some of this stuff might be behind paywalls.)

1.  Clemson AD Terry Don Phillips says there’s “no substance with regard to a report” from Orangebloods.com that there’s been informal contact between the Big 12, Clemson, Florida State, Virginia Tech and Miami.

2.  Here’s the original Orangebloods piece claiming that one Big 12 source puts the odds of expansion at “55 to 60 percent.”

3.  Today that site claims that Georgia Tech “has also put out informal feelers to the Big 12.”

SIDENOTE — “Informal feelers” could mean a single rogue booster who wants his school to move has put in a call to someone he knows at a Big 12 school.  Either way, it seems that reports of a “done deal” for FSU and Clemson to join the Big 12 were exaggerated.

4.  Texas AD DeLoss Dodds told CBSSports.com yesterday that he’s against expansion and that he thinks the new playoff system will make league’s playing championship games think twice… but he also says he’s been courting Notre Dame for a while.  (Of course he’s against expansion.  The more schools that join the Big 12, the more Texas’ power and revenue share will decrease.)

5.  ESPN’s Chris Low said on The Paul Finebaum Show yesterday that he believes more expansion is coming and “I can tell you that the SEC has their eyes on Virginia Tech.”

6.  At about the same time, the athletic directors at Virginia Tech and Virginia were saying they don’t feel there is “a serious threat of someone leaving the ACC.”

SECOND SIDENOTE — We’ll have more on the Virginia Tech talk a little later today.

7.  Here’s a graphic look – literally — at what expansion and realignment has meant for basketball.

8.  This writer says college football needs an early signing period.

9.  The season-opener between Alabama and Michigan in Arlington, Texas will — no surprise — kick off at 8pm ET on ABC.

10.  Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson has been pleasantly surprised by how quickly he’s developed a relationship with new offensive coordinator Paul Petrino.

11.  LSU’s football players are eager to get the “taste” of defeat out of their mouths.

12.  Transferring Texas A&M hoopster Naji Hibbert says he can be better on and off the court at Gardner-Webb.

13.  The Aggies come to the SEC with some peculiarities, says this writer.

14.  Will Muschamp believes his young Florida offense will grow up.  (Yeah, but how quickly?)

15.  Freshman Georgia placekicker Marshall Morgan will need to quickly do some growing up, too.

16.  Six Kentucky basketballers have been invited to the NBA’s draft combine.

17.  Tennessee coach Derek Dooley said of the felony theft arrest of tight end Cameron Clear: “I am aware of the situation but I can’t comment and won’t comment till I get all the details.”

18.  When Dooley was initially asked about rumors that Clear had stolen items from athletes on campus back, he said on May 7th: “I’ll classify it as messageboard journalism, like a lot of things that come through.”)

19.  Finally, here’s another writer’s look at the most important transfers in college basketball (and three are coming to an SEC arena near you).

THIRD AND FINAL SIDENOTE — If I open one more website and see Mia Hamm pop up in a video ad I’m going to punch something.

Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips took part in a Q&A yesterday afternoon with TigerNet.com.  During the back and forth — which can be read in its entirety here – Clemson’s AD revealed that:

* 80% of the revenue generated by the ACC’s new ESPN deal is tied to football.

* The league has “look-ins” at five-year intervals that would allow the conference to renegotiate for more money if the conference’s level of play in football were to improve.  (In other words, if Florida State, Clemson, Miami or others started competing for national titles, the league could earn more cash.)

* The ACC used some of the same consultants for negotiations that other leagues have hired to aid in their own ESPN negotiations.  In other words, it wasn’t the negotiations that hurt the ACC… it was the lack of high-end football.

* There have been no discussions between Clemson and the Big 12, but “it’s such a moving target,” that Phillips would rule nothing in or out.

Asked whether or not the ACC needed to expand to add more football powers (preferably in good TV markets with plenty of recruits near by) — good luck finding those at the moment — Phillips had this to say:

“I’m at a juncture to where you don’t rule anything out anymore.  You simply can’t rule it out.  The irony of it is that as I look backwards, I can still remember when I was at Arkansas when we went to the SEC and the consternation of us leaving the old Southwest Conference at that time.  That was traumatic because of the ties that we had.  Then I go to the Big XII when they expanded.  I guess that should’ve been a signal that this is the times that we live in.  I do believe that it’s going to continue.  I do know this — football has got to be very strong because that is driving these contracts.  At the ACC meetings, we had an interesting presentation that was in regard to basketball and football with regard to the public.  Basketball is a great sport and has a great following, but over the last 10-15 years, where at one time basketball was up as a sport in this part of the country and football was lower and now it has changed places. That in and of itself tells you that football is what the public wants.  They want a playoff.  They want a championship game that’s not contrived, but one that pretty well matches up the two best teams at the end of the day.  That’s what the public wants and conferences have got to position themselves to where their members have an opportunity to get there.

One of the things that (Clemson football coach) Dabo (Swinney) did a very good job of talking about at the conference level was about the concern that one of the (SEC) teams will start off ranked higher and they have a tendency to stay up there and Dabo said, ‘Well, this past year was a great example that that is not true. If you base it on performance and who you are playing.’  We start off 8-0 and we go from being unranked to fifth in the BCS and had we finished out — fortunately we were able to come back and beat Wake Forest to get in the championship and then we beat a good, solid Virginia Tech team in the ACC Championship.  But had we finished out the year the way we did those first eight games, we could’ve been playing for the national championship and that’s going from being unranked.  That’s based on performance.  I thought Dabo’s point was very good.  This year showed what can happen and unfortunately, we were very grateful that our kids played well in the championship game and we won that against a good, solid Virginia Tech team, but our losses occurred at the end of the year which dropped us out of the BCS opportunity, but at one time we were sitting there pretty doggone good.”

This is further proof that the anti-SEC push of “their teams just start out more highly ranked in the polls” is poppycock.  Yeah, I said it… poppycock.  Balderdash, too, for that matter.

Phillips’ statement also shows that the powers-that-be in college athletics are now seriously paying attention to the fans.  In part, that’s because social media and the internet and talk radio — all of which have boomed in the last 25 years — have given fans more outlets with which to voice their opinions.  But playing just as big a role is the fact that fans aren’t spending as many dollars on tickets as they have in years past.  They aren’t watching the BCS bowl games on television like they have in years past.

College athletics’ power brokers have finally realized that they can no longer hand fans a peanut butter sandwich and charge them for steak.

Defensive end Jonathan Allen from Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn, Va., committed to Alabama on Monday.

Allen, who chose Alabama over such schools as Florida, Michigan, Penn State, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech, committed to the Crimson Tide after visiting Tuscaloosa during the weekend.

“At the end of the day I thought Alabama was the best fit for me,” Allen told ESPN RecruitingNation. “They give me the best opportunity to showcase my talents. Going to Alabama I will be competing with and against the best players in the country. I felt like at the end of the day that is going to make me a better player – I enjoy the competition.”

Alabama should very little competition moving forward as it continues to recruit Allen, who’s ranked the nation’s fifth-best defensive end and No. 82 overall prospect by ESPN. He told the website he doesn’t plan to visit any schools other than Alabama.

“I’m done,” Allen said.

Alabama is far from done putting together another stellar recruiting class. The Tide has 14 commitments for the 2013 class, including 12 prospects with either a 4- or 5-star rating from ESPN.