Okay Auburn Fans, no whining in December

[BOSSHOG]

when you don't get picked for the big game. Extremely poor officiating jobbed LSU on the plains Saturday and it would take an extremely jaundiced Auburn fan to deny it. I am not an LSU fan but I am a fan of excellent and fair officiating.

Honorable mention given to Oregon which got two big boosts from the Zebras late in their home game against Oklahoma.

[Jawja]

1. Don't think the officiating is

going to cost Auburn a trip to the big dance. IMHO, someone is going to beat them this year. I know that LSU has an impressive defense; but Auburn may get stuffed by an equally impressive or better defense and this time around, may not get the necessary points to win. They might need a field goal late that they don't get.

Just my take on it. ;)

[northzax]

2. of the top 6 or 7 teams

Auburn has by far the hardest schedule,

[Jawja]

3. Yes and Auburn

plays Florida, who stuffed Tennessee's running game as well as LSU stuffed Auburn's (if not better). At this point, I think Tennessee's passing game is better than Auburn's. Of course, Tennessee's running game could have been DOA at the outset, but that remains to be seen.

[BOSSHOG]

4. Such a shame that other conferences don't have this problem

The best of the SEC beats the hell out of each other throughout the season. And then we have some questionable officiating thrown in to muddle the waters even more. I think LSU was by far the best team Saturday on both sides of the ball and had the best chance for the BCS game. I am not an LSU fan. I'm an Arkansas Grad, bleed Hog Red and White and I believe the Razorbacks will take out the Tide this next weekend on National TV. Mustain may be on his way to rewriting the conference passing records.

[Jawja]

5. Exactly.

I would like to see USC (Southern Cal) play the type of schedule the SEC teams play - playing each other - and see if they come out the same year after year after year. Or Texas, for that matter. The conferences they play in - as a whole - are not as vicious as the SEC. they just ain't.

Would love to see the Hawgs get some of 'Bama. Will be watching that. You guys got a fine freshman QB and he is playing well.

on edit: ya'll also have a fine running back in McFadden. It was Arkansas last year that exposed the UGA Dawg defense as being soft on the run. It killed us with Auburn and West Virginia later in the Sugar Bowl. Ya'll took it to us last year in Athens and we paid for it going into Florida the next week.

[fishwax]

6. Texas plays a pretty daunting conference schedule

Any team in the Big 12 south does, actually. A Big 12 conference season will usually require facing off against 5-7 other bowl teams, about the same as in the SEC. And last year the Big 12 had the best bowl record of any conference (tied with the ACC), despite not being favored in many (if any) of those bowls. So I'm not sure I buy that SEC teams beat up on each other any more than Big 12 teams do in an average year.

(That said, I do think the Big 12 is down this year.)

[Jawja]

7. Thanks for the analysis.

The Texas Longhorns were certainly the best team last year and proved it on the field (And IMHO, Vince Young should have won the Heisman Trophy for what he meant to that team). I am not as familiar with the Big 12 as I am the SEC and ACC, so I'm guilty of being uniformed in my statement about the Longhorns' schedule.

:hi:

[fishwax]

12. As an OU fan, it pained me to speak up for Texas, but

since the Big 12's reputation was also at stake, I thought I ought to.

I am not as familiar with the Big 12 as I am the SEC and ACC, so I'm guilty of being uniformed in my statement about the Longhorns' schedule.

That's forgivable :) And far from unusual. I think when you're familiar with a conference, you're more aware of why, say, a trip to Oxford or Lubbock is actually more daunting than a game against Ole Miss or Texas Tech might seem to someone from outside the region.

I live in Illinois now, and believe it or not, here they talk about the "daunting" Big 10 conference schedule :rofl: ;)

:hi:

[Jawja]

14. Love your avatar,

by the way.

[BOSSHOG]

8. One of the best away game experiences we had

was in October 93. My wife and I went to Athens to see the Hogs take on the Dogs. The weather was incredible and although I was decked out in my Hog Regalia the local fans treated us kindly. We sat in the corner of the end zone and watched a great game, which the Hogs won. It was a great experience. We had a nice stroll through the campus after the game. Very nice indeed. If you ever get the opportunity, take in a Hog game in Fayetteville. That is one awesome town.

If McFadden can stay out of jail, the Hogs running game should shine again this year.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

15. SEC dominance is a myth.

[BOSSHOG]

16. 25 September Edition of Sports Illustrated sums it up nicely

on page 49

THE SEC WILL BE HARD PRESSED TO GET A TEAM TO THE BCS TITLE GAME

"The SEC is the deepest and toughest conference in the country, which could be bad news for the conference's national title hopes. Good luck to Auburn, Florida, Georgia and unranked Alabama in trying to get through the season undefeated."

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

17. I'm not suggesting that it's not an excellent conference but

out on the left coast we're used to East coast bias.

[davidinalameda]

9. Auburn will play for the NC this year

hopefully against my Eers

[BOSSHOG]

10. I would agree if they weren't in the best conference in the country

Winning the SEC West is tough enough then you have to play the winner of the SEC East to win the conference championship. Hell, the NCAA should give the SEC champion the National Championship every other year or disband the conference. Let Auburn play Texas' Schedule. Let Florida muddle through the awesome Pac-10. Maybe Alabama and Georgia could wade through the Big Ten. Then we'd most likely have an (all former SEC team) BCS game year after year.

[davidinalameda]

11. the SEC East has been weak for the past few seasons

the West champion will prevail

[fishwax]

13. oh pshaw

:)

Right now the SEC has four teams in the top 10, but some of those will fall by the end of the season. This year I might well agree with you that the SEC is the toughest conference in the land, but in any given year I'd say Texas's conference schedule (or any team from the Big 12 south) is as difficult as Auburn's. Unless Buffalo and Tulane have built powerhouse programs while I wasn't paying attention ;)

In all seriousness, though, I think Auburn has a great shot at playing for the title this year. Florida and Georgia at home will help :) :toast: