So Super Mario Crystal Ball signs an extension with the Ducks and is off the table. Let me preface this by saying I am in no way trying to pull a "We didn't want him anyway" or "He wasn't on the Sugar Bowl roster" dealio. That's not where this is going.
But did Auburn even try and sign him? Ultimately, it doesn't matter because it looks like we did. Somehow, some way, even before Gus was canned, Cristobal was tabbed as one of the top candidates for the job. The media declared we were going after him. Talk shows said it. Message boards were all over it. My question though, is did anyone in power at Auburn actually ever say he was even a possibility? If they did, I haven't seen it anywhere.
Regardless, whether we went after him or not, we have egg on our face. Go back to the process of hiring Malzahn. There was a search committee. Wait, no, that was a smoke screen. Jacobs was really behind it all, right? He wants a "puppet he can be in control of" A yes man. Wait, I heard Petrino was on campus. He would be announced tomorrow. Hold on, I'm hearing it's not CBP.... It went on and on and on. Turns out nobody had a clue what really happened. It was none of the above. Until Kirby Smart came out much later and admitted the job was his, was anybody on top of that? Nope!
Bottom line for me, until they announce the next coach, it's all just speculation by everybody that claims to know something.