The big day is almost here — the day that Central Florida and Auburn will line up and have a big footrace from goal line to goal line to prove, once and for all, who’s faster.

What’s that? They’re not going to do that?

They’re actually just going to play a football game, you say?

Oh. Well then.

Then I guess UCF running back Adrian Killins, the self-proclaimed fastest player in college football, is in for the “rude awakening” he forecasted for seventh-ranked Auburn at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta on Monday.

Nothing against Central Florida. The No. 12 Knights have a really nice team. And certainly nothing against Scott Frost. If anyone can prepare an undermanned AAC team to steal a Peach Bowl, it’s Frost. But there are two things I know, and both are important.

First of all, the whole “SEC football don’t have a lot of speed” comment from Killins was a world class sort of ignorant. 

If Killins is the fastest player in the country, then Auburn cornerback Javaris Davis may be No. 2. The pair did race each other in high school — splitting two matchups in the 100-meter dash — and Davis claims a sub-4.2 40-yard time.

Hard work,pays off s/o to my strength and conditioning coaches especially @CoachRussellAU 4.18  pic.twitter.com/vboEyRa3DE

— Javaris Davis (@javariusdavis1) April 29, 2016

Is that good? Seems pretty good.

Also, fun fact about the SEC: The “SE” stands for “Southeastern” — as in, the region of the United States that includes Florida. Included in this league that apparently doesn’t have a lot of speed are a couple of schools widely referred to as Alabama and Georgia. Perhaps you’ve heard of them?

Alabama and Georgia don’t just recruit Alabama and Georgia; those programs also recruit Florida — and literally any other player from any other state they want to. So, out on a limb as it might be, I’ll be so bold as to suggest that they aren’t just checking the speed box. They’re checking every box.

Auburn, for its part, split with Georgia, drilled Alabama, and lost to Clemson by eight. So, I mean, it’s awesome that UCF has a bunch of really fast Florida kids, but the Tigers have seen three-quarters of the national semifinals, so…

One of my favorite tweets of the day. Former 100m state champ and current UCF Knight Adrian Killins talking about SPEED.https://t.co/KxxN3YOf0I pic.twitter.com/2iQHm3g8Gt

— Florida Runners (@flrunners) December 19, 2017

Also, also, if we were talking about a damn track meet — and we aren’t, but if we were — the SEC is pretty decent at running fast the last time I checked.

Hang on, let me check again. Yep, pretty awesome for the past, oh I don’t know, three decades or so.

Anyway, that’s not even the second point. This is the second point: Don’t give Gus Malzahn ammunition. It just rarely ends well for the player, coach and/or program doing the talking. My first point of reference was a 62-0 victory over Pulaski Academy (AR) way back in 2003 — but there exists a whole bunch of supporting evidence both before and since.

Maybe I’ll be wrong. Maybe Killins and the Knights will run really fast into the end zone a whole bunch and Auburn won’t be able to keep up. Maybe it won’t matter that Killins tweaked Malzahn and the Tigers’ personnel for no good reason.

But, more likely, Auburn will keep pace while also introducing UCF to SEC physicality behind a deeper roster and more talent. More likely, Jarrett Stidham uses the Knights to launch his 2018 Heisman Trophy campaign.

Guess we’ll find out.

UPDATE: Welp.