Thoughts - Week Finally Interesting

[The Prowler]

The next few weeks in the West are going to be fun to watch.  Don't know if we'll be able to determine much when some of the dust settles but these are the games where we'll hear the term "Beat each other up" said a lot.  Texas A & M and Arky should be fun.  Strength against weakness on both sides.  A & M will be flinging the ball around against a very suspect Hawg secondary while you know the Faggies won't be able to slow down the running game.  Gonna' pull for Arky in that one.  Then A & M goes to Starkvegas. I hope Sumlin hangs a Hundo on em'.  Probably won't but I'll be hoping.

Only drawback is there's gonna' be a ton of putrid red and maroon and ugly shit in both games.

A positive to take away from the aTm/Arkansas game...if Arkansas is able to win, they'll be in the Top 25 and aTm won't slip out, giving Auburn 9 ranked teams on their schedule (The toughest schedule, as far as rankings go, in NCAA History).

[AUChizad]

A positive to take away from the aTm/Arkansas game...if Arkansas is able to win, they'll be in the Top 25 and aTm won't slip out, giving Auburn 9 ranked teams on their schedule (The toughest schedule, as far as rankings go, in NCAA History).

I don't doubt that this would be an NCAA record, but do you have a link for that?

I'd like to know what team(s?) holds the previous record with 8.

[Kaos]

I don't doubt that this would be an NCAA record, but do you have a link for that?

I'd like to know what team(s?) holds the previous record with 8.

1983 Auburn
2004 Auburn

1 and 2

[Token]

I'm confused. Early season ranking are ridiculous, biased and shouldn't exist.  Unless you are using those same rankings to talk about how tough a schedule is?  Seems like it would make more sense to rank schedules at the end of the season when the top 25 is finished.  Or quit talking shit about preseason and early season polls.

[djsimp]

I'm confused. Early season ranking are ridiculous, biased and shouldn't exist.  Unless you are using those same rankings to talk about how tough a schedule is?

Well yeah, duh.

[The Prowler]

1983 Auburn
2004 Auburn

1 and 2

Yup, Auburn's '83 schedule is generally considered the toughest in NCAA History...beating 5 top 20 (or Top 25, can't remember exactly) teams consecutively to close out the season.

So I can say, without a single doubt, that if Arkansas beats aTm putting them in the Top 25, Auburn will have the toughest schedule in NCAA History...per rankings, at that time (9 Top 25 ranked teams on schedule...DAMN).

Hell, at this time, Auburn has the same amount of ranked teams on schedule (8 ranked) as FSU, Oregon & Oklahoma COMBINED.

[GH2001]

I'm confused. Early season ranking are ridiculous, biased and shouldn't exist.  Unless you are using those same rankings to talk about how tough a schedule is?  Seems like it would make more sense to rank schedules at the end of the season when the top 25 is finished.  Or quit talking shit about preseason and early season polls.

To determine a champion, they are useless and meaningless this early since they change so much and are just a guess. But you have to go off of something when determining SoS. Its not perfect but its what we have. I still think they are useless for the most part. On SoS its more of a guide.

[GH2001]

1983 Auburn
2004 Auburn

1 and 2

2010 was no slouch either. 7 in top 20 I think. (at the time they beat them)

[AUChizad]

1983 Auburn
2004 Auburn

1 and 2

83 Auburn played 6 ranked teams at the time we played them. Why wait til Arkansas climbs into the rankings before we claim the crown? 2004 played 5, and lets not forget Citadel-gate got us kicked out of the championship game due to a perceived weaker schedule than USC & Oklahoma THAT YEAR.

So we're just pulling stuff out of our ass then?

I'm a biased barner and all, but there's no way that Auburn has the #1, #2, and #3 hardest schedules of all time in terms of ranked opponants.

2011 LSU played 9 ranked teams at the time they played each. Not sure about at any one point in the season. That's the tricky thing that makes this a very difficult stat to verify. It's a moving target week-to-week. If I'm going off of recent memory alone, I'd say they probably hold the crown.

I'm confused. Early season ranking are ridiculous, biased and shouldn't exist.  Unless you are using those same rankings to talk about how tough a schedule is?  Seems like it would make more sense to rank schedules at the end of the season when the top 25 is finished.  Or quit talking shit about preseason and early season polls.

No, they're still ridiculous. But we're in week 5 now and as the year goes on, more teams on our schedule are cropping up into the rankings, thus proving that further.

[AUChizad]

2010 was no slouch either. 7 in top 20 I think. (at the time they beat them)

6.

But that still qualifies us for the #1, #2, #3, and #4 toughest schedules of all time in all of college football according to Kaos.

[AUChizad]

I'm not knocking the stat for being brought up, and I suspect that it very well may be true that no team has ever had 9 ranked opponents on their schedule at one time, partly because no one division of one conference has probably ever all been ranked concurrently. Throw in the fact that BOTH of our cross-division games are ranked opponents (the only ranked teams in that division) and that we played a ranked OOC team, and the fact that 12 regular season games are a relatively new thing, and you've narrowed the possibilities down quite a bit.

I just wanted to see that verified somewhere because if true that's a pretty solid thing to hang your hat on.

[CCTAU]

Just throwing this on so it doesn't look like Chad is talking to himself...

[Godfather]

I'm confused. Early season ranking are ridiculous, biased and shouldn't exist.  Unless you are using those same rankings to talk about how tough a schedule is?  Seems like it would make more sense to rank schedules at the end of the season when the top 25 is finished.  Or quit talking shit about preseason and early season polls.

Can't really do it that way though can you? You would have beaten the team their rankings would have dropped.  Either way you of all people know that top to bottom the SEC west is the hardest division in all of College Football this year.  I was giving a buddy of mine props (he went to Duke) about they might be undefeated facing Free Sex University for the ACC championship again this year.

Seriously look at their remaining schedule.  Compare that to either Auburn's or spuat's its a fucking joke.


If that was our remaining schedule I would be booking my trip to Atlanta now.

However unlike spuat like Chizad said we also happen to be playing the two toughest teams from the East division.

[AUTiger1]

Just throwing this on so it doesn't look like Chad is talking to himself...

Meh, he is used to it by now.

[AUChizad]

However unlike spuat like Chizad said we also happen to be playing the two toughest teams from the East division.

Put it this way. Everyone in the SEC West are contenders for toughest schedule.

Of the SEC West teams, their other non-SEC West ranked opponents are:

Auburn - 3 (South Carolina, Georgia, Kansas State)
Texas A&M - 1 (South Carolina)
Arkansas - 1 (Georgia)
LSU - 1 (Wisconsin)
Alabama - 0
Ole Miss - 0
Miss State - 0

[Godfather]

SEC West teams are 22-0 against teams not in the division and are winning those games by an average margin of 34 points. SEC West teams are a combined 24-2, with the only losses coming against each other. Along with Auburn's victory over Arkansas, Mississippi State upset LSU 34-29 on the road last week.

The SEC West has a 99.3 rating on a 0-100 scale in ESPN's division power rankings, which is 33 points higher than any other division in college football.

Each of the SEC West teams rank in the top 20 of ESPN's Football Power Index, which is more teams than the Big 12, Big Ten and ACC have combined. The top three teams in the FPI are from the SEC West: No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Texas A&M and No. 3 Auburn.

Five SEC West teams (Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Texas A&M) rank in the Top 25 among FBS teams in both scoring offense and scoring defense. Texas A&M is No. 2 in scoring offense (55.3 points per game) and No. 8 in scoring defense (11.8 points). Arkansas is No. 3 in scoring offense (48.8 points), and the Razorbacks and Aggies are on pace to break the SEC scoring record set by Florida (46.6 points) in 1996.

[Godfather]

I'm not real concerned about it, because we get our wins we will get the respect. However good to see someone notices at least.

Where's the respect for the Auburn Tigers?

Like Roc-A-Fella Records, can we please acknowledge that Auburn is definitely in the building?

Four full weeks into the 2014 college football season, and we still aren't really talking about the defending SEC champions. Did I miss something? Wasn't this team 13 seconds away from winning the final BCS national title game at the end of last season?

Despite returning a handful of starters on both sides of the ball to a team that made a fantastic run through the SEC a year removed from being a certifiable dumpster fire on the Plains, the fifth-ranked Tigers (3-0, 1-0 SEC) entered the 2014 season ranked behind Alabama, which Auburn beat last fall -- on a miracle play, but still beat.

And even after a perfect start, which includes a 24-point win over a much-improved Arkansas team and a tough road win at No. 20 Kansas State, it's as if the Tigers are in our peripheral vision. Texas A&M (4-0, 1-0) is ranked one spot behind Auburn, yet has four first-place votes to Auburn's zero.

If you look at what Auburn has done thus far, the argument can certainly be made that it is probably the most complete team of the SEC's preseason favorites. The offense is balanced, and the defense is much improved. There's a quality veteran quarterback and a hot-shot coach running things.

You are what your record is, right?

The Tigers have done everything asked of them, and done it well. You say their six-point win over a Kansas State team that narrowly escaped what would have been an epic upset against lowly Iowa State isn't impressive enough? Well, I think you should look deeper at what the Tigers did to claw their way out of Manhattan, Kansas.

There were some mistakes on Kansas State's part that certainly helped Auburn, but one thing that really stuck out to me was how Auburn turned to its passing game to win. Kansas State's stout run defense thwarted Auburn's dynamic rushing attack, allowing just 128 rushing yards and a paltry 2.8 yards per carry (the lowest in the Gus Malzahn era). Auburn hadn't been held to under 300 rushing yards in either of its first two games, and this marked just the second time in 17 games under Malzahn that the Tigers were held below 200 rushing yards.

With the running game in shambles, quarterback Nick Marshall was given the green light to chuck away. This is the same quarterback we've had to question multiple times when it comes to being a more consistent passer. Well, the coaches didn't question him,and he didn't disappoint, throwing for 231 yards and two touchdowns. Marshall came up with a clutch, game-winning throw -- again -- in the fourth quarter when he found a wide open D'haquille Williams for a 39-yard gain on third-and-9 with 2:06 remaining.

The Tigers also forced three turnovers without key defender Jermaine Whitehead even in the state.

But that shouldn't surprise us with how this defense has played thus far. Auburn ranks fourth in the SEC giving up just 310.7 yards per game. Last season, the Tigers didn't hold a team under 415 yards of offense until Oct. 12 against Western Carolina.

Auburn limited Arkansas, which leads the SEC with 324.5 rushing yards per game, to just 153 yards on the ground. The Tigers, which gave up 163 rushing yards per game last year, are surrendering 86 per contest so far. And what's even more impressive is the fact that Auburn is playing without arguably its best defender, defensive end Carl Lawson, who is recovering from ACL surgery.

Auburn ranks within the top half of the SEC in seven of the eight major offensive and defensive categories. The offensive line has surrendered one sack, the running game is just as potent this year (262.7 yards per game), and the receiving corps got a major upgrade with Williams (two 100-yard receiving games in his first three games with the Tigers) becoming the only Auburn receiver in the past 10 seasons to have multiple such games before the end of September, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Auburn isn't perfect, and the Tigers will continue to face tougher competition as they tangle with the teeth of the conference schedule, but this isn't a team that should be overlooked, and for some reason it is.

Fool me once, right?

http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/89426/wheres-the-respect-for-the-auburn-tigers

[WiregrassTiger]

I saw two jerk offs on espn u this pm and neither of them had AU in top 4. I'm like you in that it doesn't bother me much because I know if we win our games, we are in like Flynn. It's going to be a very, very, tall order to win all of our games. If there is any way to screw AU out of a chance of getting into the playoff, it will be found. You can count on that.

[AUChizad]

I saw two jerk offs on espn u this pm and neither of them had AU in top 4. I'm like you in that it doesn't bother me much because I know if we win our games, we are in like Flynn. It's going to be a very, very, tall order to win all of our games. If there is any way to screw AU out of a chance of getting into the playoff, it will be found. You can count on that.

I hear this argument, and like you eluded to, IF we win all our games there's no worries.

My problem is when three SEC West teams are 11-1. They will take the two not named Auburn, mark it down. They will definitely take the one named Alabama. And the argument will be "Well, they were ranked ahead of Auburn all year."

It's a different era. You don't have to be the SEC champion to get to the National Championship anymore. So the rankings still kinda do matter.

[WiregrassTiger]

I hear this argument, and like you eluded to, IF we win all our games there's no worries.

My problem is when three SEC West teams are 11-1. They will take the two not named Auburn, mark it down. They will definitely take the one named Alabama. And the argument will be "Well, they were ranked ahead of Auburn all year."

It's a different era. You don't have to be the SEC champion to get to the National Championship anymore. So the rankings still kinda do matter.

I don't agree with much of anything that you say or do. Your alternative lifestyle, racism, cheating, etc. But you are right about this.