Auburn University's basketball team beat the University of Michigan and Michigan State University on its way to the coveted Final Four. Auburn owned the state of Michigan on the ball court.
On Monday morning, Alabama's Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth posted a map on social media showing Lake Michigan renamed the "Gulf of Auburn."
Ainsworth's text accompanying the map read, "We will be working on a resolution this week renaming a certain body of water."
Of course, the Alabama Legislature and the state's lieutenant governor have no authority to rename Lake Michigan. This is a joke. It's funny. It emphasizes that Auburn took out both Michigan powers in the NCAA tournament.
Ainsworth is an Auburn graduate and a huge Auburn fan. He is also a successful businessman and elected official. Now, he is testing an additional role—online comedian and meme-maker. He's doing pretty well in that new role. Ainsworth's "Gulf of Auburn" map has caught fire online.
The proposed map change is based on President Donald Trump's earlier announcement that he had renamed the Gulf of Mexico to "Gulf of America." Some map services have indeed made that change.
The Auburn team now travels to San Antonio for college basketball's grand finale, the Final Four. They take on neighboring Florida, the only SEC team besides Auburn to win its way into the Final Four. One of those teams will eliminate the other, so only one SEC team will play in the championship game.
If the Auburn Tigers win the semi-final game against Florida and the championship game against either Duke or Houston, their national championship team will likely get an invitation to visit Trump in the White House. Maybe the team could take Ainsworth's map with them and give it to Trump. He might just take up the renaming idea since Auburn won the national championship—and the state of Alabama is solidly red.
It wouldn't be the first time Trump has adopted one of Ainsworth's ideas. Trump announced in Alabama in 2023 that he was backing Ainsworth's proposal to six-lane Interstate 65 from the Tennessee line to its end in Mobile.
Keep on making suggestions, Lt. Governor Ainsworth. The President is listening to you.
Jim' Zig' Zeigler writes about Alabama's people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at [email protected].
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