Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin and Auburn's Gus Malzahn entered the season on two of the hottest seats in the country, won enough to land in the Top 10 in November, cooling those seats off, and then suffered mind-numbing losses that called their effectiveness into question again.
For Sumlin, it was a double dose of Magnolia State pain. The Aggies lost 35-28 at Mississippi State on Nov. 5 and followed that up by blowing a two-score, fourth quarter lead in a 29-28 home loss to Ole Miss, which was led by true freshman quarterback Shea Patterson.
"We didn't convert when we had the opportunity to really extend a little in third quarter," Sumlin said in emailed quotes.