2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl: Securing Mike London Will Spur Virginia to Win vs. Auburn

After their most successful regular season since 2007, there was plenty of talk regarding whether the Virginia Cavaliers could keep head coach Mike London. On Friday, however, the school signed London to a two-year extension through 2016 in a move that should help spur the players to a win in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

The 8-4 Cavaliers of the ACC will take on the 7-5 Auburn Tigers of the SEC. The Chick-fil-A Bowl is a far cry from what Auburn experienced last season as it won the National Championship. The regression was to be expected, however, with key players like quarterback Cam Newton and defensive tackle Nick Fairley going to the NFL.

Virginia may be the less heralded team in this matchup, but they played much better team football than Auburn this season. You could argue that the Tigers played in the tougher conference, but they were awful down the stretch in blowout losses to LSU, Georgia and Alabama.

The Cavaliers' signature wins over Georgia Tech, Miami and Florida State are nothing to sneeze at either. What it comes down to is that simply making a bowl is probably a thrill for London and the Cavaliers, while playing in the Chick-fil-A Bowl probably feels like a major disappointment for any Auburn players that were on the team last year.

Virginia's players made big strides this season under London, and now that they know he is in it for the long haul they have every reason to play hard and win on Saturday night. I simply don't think the Tigers will have that same type of motivation after already having experienced the ultimate high in college football.

This game will certainly be close, as neither team is capable of scoring at a high volume, but the Cavs play much stronger defense, giving them the advantage. Virginia's defensive improvement likely stems from London's long history as a defensive coach with Virginia and in the NFL with the Houston Texans.

In just two years at Virginia, London has taken the Cavaliers from a downtrodden 4-8 team to an 8-4 team that was in contention to play for the ACC Championship until the bitter end. London is obviously a coach that the players can get behind and respond to in a positive fashion.

Had London left for a more high-profile job as many expected, then I wouldn't have liked Virginia's chances in this game. When you couple London's extension with the team's excitement and Auburn's probable indifference, the Cavs are the team to beat in this game.