Call me a homer.
Homer.
I don't see how Auburn is ranked as low as we are, primarily for losing Cam & Nick . . .
Losing Cam and Nick, your offensive and defensive leaders, is a pretty big deal. Enough to have you ranked 23rd in the preseason polls? Maybe not.
But you're overlooking the other players lost. If you "ranked" teams by the number of starting players they were returning, then Auburn would be #120 with three returning offensive starters, four returning defensive starters, and no returning starters on special teams. Two months after the national championship, Auburn was going through spring training with 32 less players than the team that played for the national championship.
Taking into account a loss of that magnitude, being ranked 23rd is not that far-fetched. Sure, it's still debatable, but let's not act like it was just "Cam and Nick" that were lost, and that everyone is overreacting by wanting to rank Auburn significantly lower than #1. This simply is not the same team as the defending national championship team.