I’ve always been into the preseason rags. I keep a couple in my “library”, so I can read about Smart, while I drop a Saban. They’re hitting the stands now, and I picked up a Lindy’s the other day.
Very telling about how the college football world views the state of our beloved program. Now granted, since U Free has been so active in the port hole, even very recently, there’s probably 8-10 players who weren’t signed when it went to publication. But, I don’t think all the Group of 5 players we’ve signed would have changed things very much.
Obviously, all these mags have their rankings, from preseason team rankings, to individuals, to units. Lindy’s team rankings don’t have us in the top 25….or top 30….or top 40. They have us at #42. Then , they list the top 25 QB’s, top 25 RB’s etc. They do it for every position, on both offense and defense. Jar-Kwez Hunter is their #17 RB. There are no Auburn players on any of the other lists. Last, they rank the units. Who has the best D-line? O-line? They do top 10 for each one. The University of Auburns doesn’t appear in any of them.
For me, I think we’ll be better than people think. Yes, I’m optimistic while wearing these orange and blue Maui Jim’s. How much better? Who knows? But I get why there’s very little love coming our way. Why would we get any, after the last couple of Gus years, and the Bryman Hairpin debacle? I hope we as fans, will be patient with the Freeze Meister. All indications are he’s getting the players we need on campus, but it still may take a good while to get us competing for championships again. At least the college football world outside of Auburn thinks so.