One of the biggest college football stories in 2017 was Auburn's return to national prominence. It's worth noting that Gus Malzahn did it the right way.

In the SEC, there are always examples of prominent coaches breaking the rules, cutting corners and compromising their integrity for fast-tracked wins. Former Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze is the latest coach to sell out for quick success, but other coaches have run their programs into the ground with willful disregard for discipline (for some reason, this happens a lot at Florida).

Malzahn, on the other hand, has made several high-profile decisions at Auburn over the last few years to uphold a standard of accountability among his players. At the time of each incident, Malzahn's difficult choices cast doubt on his ability to lead. In the long run, though, kicking off key players who couldn't follow the rules appears to have established a sustainable team culture.

This season, Malzahn won -- and won big -- despite removing from the team a receiver with great potential (Kyle Davis), and the team's backup quarterback (Sean White). Did Malzahn win this season despite making these decisions or because of these decisions? When it comes to measuring coaching intangibles, there might be no greater question.

The answer is simple. He won because of them.

Now, I'm not saying Malzahn is some kind of saint. This is, after all, the SEC we're talking about here. But Malzahn has invested in the accountability of his football players, and it has established a strong baseline of integrity within Auburn's football team. That integrity is translating to wins. On offense, running back Kerryon Johnson and receiver Ryan Davis lead by example on and off the field, according to their teammates, and they helped rally the team after that terrible loss to LSU.

Just before the road game against LSU, Malzahn was forced to kick Davis, the talented former Auburn receiver, off the team for breaking team rules. Previously, Davis was suspended from the team during the offseason. Auburn could have imploded after self destructing against LSU. Instead, the Tigers rallied for wins against two top-ranked teams. That doesn't happen without a strong core of players who believe in a coach. Malzahn has built that culture, and stayed true to it, since he arrived at Auburn, and now it's beginning to pay dividends for both Auburn University and himself.

In a time when Alabama's Nick Saban has dominated the SEC in a way only rivaled by Paul Bryant, Malzahn's team policies for rule breaking is even more commendable. The pressure at Auburn to compete with Saban is tremendous, and unlike anything else in college football.

It is clear now that Malzahn realized early on there was no easy -- or easier -- path to competing with Saban. The only way to do it was establishing a strong culture and building from that.

So, in 2015, Malzahn made the tough decision of kicking off his best receiver (Duke Williams) before the season. In the end, Williams was a team cancer and Malzahn made the right call.

In 2016, it was almost the exact same scenario when Malzahn kicked off the team's best running back, Jovon Robinson. Like Williams, Robinson had major off-the-field problems.

This season, Davis and White were removed from the team after being given multiple opportunities to rehabilitate themselves.

Auburn has taken hit after hit this year for its athletic department, but the bedrock of the operation -- the football team -- appears to be strong thanks to Malzahn, and not despite him. For that reason, and under those special circumstances, he's worth every penny of his new contract.

OTHER TOPICS WE MIGHT DISCUSS TODAY

1. Team speed, is it overrated in the SEC? One running back at UCF seems to think so. This might be the hottest take since a guy in New York called Nick Saban gutless for not weighing in on Tuesday's election. Does this add excitement and intrigue to the game? It does for me. Personally, I wish all bowl games had a one-week build up of nothing but smack talk between the two teams.

2. About that guy's column in the New York Post ... yeah, that was a flaming hot take. Hey, it's the New York Post, what do you expect? For those who aren't familiar with the publication, the Post specializes controversy and stoking the fires. One thing the columnist did nail, though, was Saban's public service announcement before the 2016 Presidential election. He definitely knew about it.

3. Will Alabama win the national championship? My initial outlook is a victory against Clemson and then a loss to Oklahoma. This could change.

4. As for Alabama's next defensive coordinator, that's a no brainer as far as I'm concerned. It should be Tosh Lupoi. He'll be better than Jeremy Pruitt.

5. Best movie character from a Christmas movie? I have to go to a movie-themed party in a few days.

6. Who is your Alabama Sportsman of the Year? This can be any person playing or coaching in Alabama right now or any professional from the state doing well abroad. My choice is UAB coach Bill Clark with a close second to golfer Justin Thomas and a close third to Auburn running back Kerryon Johnson. (Fourth would be Alabama basketball coach Avery Johnson.)



7. Former Alabama staffer Billy Napier is leaving Arizona State, according to a report, to be the coach at Louisiana-Lafayette. Do you care?

8. Star Wars, no spoilers, or you will be banished to Hoth for eternity.



9. What is LeBron James saying to Lonzo Ball?





10. Will Auburn be the betting favorite to win the national championship to begin next season? If you think so, state your case. If not, state your case.



11. Alabama's latest linebacker commitment looks pretty incredible. Is Auburn going to finish ahead of Alabama in recruiting this year? The Crimson Tide, which has had the top-ranked recruiting class in the country for seven straight years, is closing fast.

12. Baseball mitts, do you have a favorite brand?

Joseph Goodman is a columnist for Alabama Media Group. He's on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.