What would our emotions be?
Since Pat Dye became the coach at Auburn, every coach has produced a competitive team in their fourth season:
1984 Pat Dye 9-4
1996 Terry Bowden 8-4
2002 Tommy Tuberville 9-4
Four losses may not be a great season, but each of those three seasons including many good wins and tough losses. Every game had a chance to be competitive. Excitement for Auburn football was high.
This year's Iron Bowl should be one of the most hyped Iron Bowls in the game's history.
Alabama must win to get to Atlanta, and they actually need a quality win to stay alive in the national championship hunt.
LSU and Texas A&M both need Auburn to win this game to get to Atlanta. They should be rooting for us.
In Gene Chizik's fourth year, we should be fielding an experienced, competitive team.
We should be glued to the internet and TV to see any kind of discussion regarding this game. We should be making plans to have a huge party. We should be purchasing toilet paper in bulk for the possible afterparty if Auburn wins in Tuscaloosa. We should be talking trash on the radio, and we should be striking fear into every self-entitled Bama fan.
We should be flying Auburn flags from our SUVs, buying extra bumper stickers for our cars, and custom plates for our trucks.
We should be scrounging loose change from the couch to help pay for the exorbitant ticket prices to the game in Tuscaloosa.
We should be 8-3 or 7-4 at the least. We should be excited. We should be readying our pens for the history books. We should be contemplating the magnitude of winning this game.
Instead, we're depressed.