Reflections: Is this REALLY such a shock?

[Kaos]

Is the meltdown in 2008 really, seriously such a shock?  Upon further review this has been building for quite a while. The only reason it hasn't happened before now is the whims of fortune.

Submitted for your consideration:

In 2006 Auburn posted an 11-2 record. Included in that mark was a 7-3 win over LSU, a 24-17 squeaker at South Carolina, a 27-17 win over Florida that was completely misleading, a 23-17 win against Ole Miss and a 17-14 win over Nebraska.  The ball bounces a different way and 11-2 becomes 6-7.  Easily.

In 2007 Auburn posted a record of 9-4. Those nine wins included a 23-13 win over Kansas State that was much closer than that, a 20-17 win at Florida that could have gone either way, a 9-7 win at Arkansas that was a miracle,  an anemic 17-3 win over Ole Miss, a 17-10 win over Alabama and a 23-20 OT win over Clemson. Granted there there losses to South Florida, MSU and LSU that could have swung a 12-1 record, but AU was just as close to going 3-10.

Fact of the matter is that for the last two years the ball has bounced Auburn's way in close game after close game after close game. We've all bitched and moaned about Auburn's reluctance to "put people away."  But the question that bears asking as this season continues its death spiral is whether or not Auburn has had that capability.

After considering the history, it seems to me that the debacle of this season isn't really that much different than it has been trending for several years other than the fact that THIS season, the ball has bounced the other way. 

Hmmm.....

[BZ770]

Not really, College Football goes in cycles.  Auburn has been on top for the past few seasons, now it's our time to be on bottom for a while.  I like your theory of how the ball bounces, but my idea is that Every SEC team can play with any SEC team on the same level for a finite time.  The Time is the question.  Tenn played bama last night for 2 solid quarters before penalties, fatigue and Bama's run finally put the game away.  If you play a flawless game and don't make mistakes your better team has a high percentage of winning, but when you give penalties, miss FG's, drop passes, miss blocking assignments, then no matter how good your team is your are going to let the lesser team win.  My theory.