62 replies to this topic

[Infield Infidel]

I guess if Auburn are rebuilding, a 291-pound runningback is a nice start



This kid added 20 lbs this summer.

JMDurron, is this kid redshirting? if not will he get carries?

Edited by Infield Infidel, 05 August 2011 - 12:25 AM.

[RedOctober3829]

Key Non-Conference Games that involve SEC teams:

Boise State at Georgia 9/3
LSU vs. Oregon at Dallas 9/3
South Carolina at Georgia 9/10
Alabama at Penn State 9/10
Auburn at Clemson 9/17
LSU at West Virginia 9/24
Arkansas vs. Texas A&M at Dallas 10/1
Georgia at Georgia Tech 11/26
Clemson at South Carolina 11/26

Edited by RedOctober3829, 06 August 2011 - 09:06 AM.

[grsharky7]

It doesn't appear that the SEC has one dominant team this year, although they do have 8 teams in the top 25. Bama is breaking in a new QB, so I'm not totally sold on the Tide. The others, who knows. I will say there will be an SEC team in the BCS title game though. The SEC is dominant and by far the best in the country, but it seems the media just hypes the BCS game as the SEC champ vs someone else.

[JMDurron]

I guess if Auburn are rebuilding, a 291-pound runningback is a nice start



This kid added 20 lbs this summer.

JMDurron, is this kid redshirting? if not will he get carries?

He redshirted last season due to injury. He is currently projected as a FB (replacing the perpetually in trouble Eric Smith if all goes well), so he would mostly be blocking, and getting the occasional carry. Watching the A-Day (Spring Scrimmage) game, he is surprisingly fleet of foot, but is often missing his assignments. Right now, he looks like the kind of physical freak that makes fans drool, but he has a ways to go before being deployed as an effective weapon.

He won't be getting a ton of regular RB carries with Michael Dyer (Soph All Purpose Back) and Onterrio McCalebb (Junior Speedster) back for another round. If he learns the blocking schemes well enough, he would be blocking between the tackles for Dyer, which would just be obscene with the OL talent Chizik has added in the last two recruiting classes. That last sentence could be also applied to Wily Mo Pena laying off breaking balls, though, so I don't share the expectations that the rest of the Auburn fanbase seem to have for him. He's only a RS FR, though, so there's plenty of room for upside. Eric Smith has been given another chance to stay on the roster as the primary FB after some slightly overblown off-the-field issues this offseason, so if Smith behaves himself, I think you'll see relatively little of LaDarious Phillips in the 1st team offensive sets in 2011.

I can't really tell what you expect from Auburn this year, nevermind the rest of the SEC West. Most of the pundits are comparing the 2011 Auburn roster to the 2010 crew, where the large number of departing seniors and key playmakers (Newton, Fairley, Wes Byrum (PK), Josh Bynes (MLB), the top two WRs, and 4 starters on the OL among them) make the 2011 outlook appear deceptively bleak. Ultimately, the entire coaching staff, aside from DL/DT coach Tracy Rocker (Titans) took the 2009 team to a 8-5 record (7-5 regular season) with a similarly tough schedule using a QB who couldn't run and had a bum shoulder from Game 5 onward. This is a far more talented, but less experienced roster compared to the 2009 unit. It's all about the baseline you want to use, and the 2009 baseline strikes me as more reasonable than using the once-in-a-lifetime 2010 team's performance as the benchmark by which the 2011 team should be measured.

LSU and Alabama (in that order) strike me as the favorites in the West, with Arkansas in position 1c, but Auburn has a reasonable expectation of a 8 win regular season, with the range of possible results between 6 and 10 wins. I would normally just do +/- 1 game for such a projection, but the proportion of talent-to-experience is so outsized that I think the variability is at least doubled. This coaching staff, Gus Malzahn and Jeff Grimes in particular, is worth at least 1 win above otherwise objective expectations (7 without those two). It's possible to say that Auburn's season rides on the ability of Grimes to get a bunch of talented freshman OLmen up to speed before the Clemson and South Carolina games. That's a very tall order. I'm actually not concerned about the QB battle at all, based on what Malzahn managed with Chris Todd in 2009. I expect to see a roughly 60/40 run/pass playcalling split anyway.

Alabama and Arkansas are breaking in new QBs, and each may be completely defective on one side of the ball or the other (Alabama's offense, Arkansas' defense), while LSU is still coached by Les Miles. Auburn is in this grey area sub-category that falls between the three favorites and the newly respectable Mississippi State Blue Jays, who just happen to be in the wrong division. Ole Miss has some very pretty shrubbery.

Edited by JMDurron, 05 August 2011 - 11:58 AM.

[SouthernBoSox]

Arkansas RB Knile Davis out for the season with an ankle injury. Huge blow to a talented Arkansas team. Kid was right up there with the best in the country.

[ethangl]

Meanwhile, in Baton Rouge...

Multiple witnesses see Jordan Jefferson kick a marine in the head.

[Jeff Van GULLY]

Starting QB Jordan Jefferson and backup LB Josh Johns have been charged with and arrested for 2nd Degree battery, a felony. Both have been indefinitely suspended.

I've watched Jefferson personally since he was a senior in high school and won the state championship. He's an idiot and deserves what he gets, which should presumably be getting kicked off the team. Kicking a guy in the head while he's on the ground is gutless.

Slight chance Jefferson comes back though, as two bar employees say the Marine threw the first punch and the Marine is apparently not such a peach of a man either.

As for the upcoming football game, the Oregon-LSU game was promising to be a great match-up in Dallas. Now both teams are without their starting QB's. This also in all probability sinks LSU's chance at a SEC title.

5th year senior Jarrett Lee should take over as the starter for the Oregon game; he is not a good quarterback.

Sophmore Zach Metterberger has a lot of promise and will eventually be their starter but he has had his own problems off the field and it is presumed that he did not get much of a chance to compete for the starting job because of said off-the-field incidents.

Edited by Jeff Van GULLY, 26 August 2011 - 11:28 PM.

[ethangl]

Russell Shepard's been suspended too – indefinitely.

[Domer]

[Infield Infidel]

Those Maryland unis were awful, but these SC wounded warrior unis are great

[JMDurron]

Auburn's offensive execution was horrible again today, it's like a switch was flipped in the 2nd quarter of the Clemson game and turned them into incompetents. This team may be further away from 8 wins than I had originally thought, or maybe it's that the offense is going to be as feast-or-famine as I was expecting the defense to be. Coaches Malzahn and Grimes (the OL was terrifyingly bad against Florida Atlantic today!) have their work cut out for them going forward this season.

[Clears Cleaver]

The discrepancy between Alabama, lsu and the rest of the country continues to widen. OU has had too many injuries to suggest they are within seven points of either team. The rest of the SEC is down, but it doesn't matter as it's a pretty weak year for college football

[Bernie Carbohydrate]

Auburn's offensive execution was horrible again today, it's like a switch was flipped in the 2nd quarter of the Clemson game and turned them into incompetents. This team may be further away from 8 wins than I had originally thought, or maybe it's that the offense is going to be as feast-or-famine as I was expecting the defense to be. Coaches Malzahn and Grimes (the OL was terrifyingly bad against Florida Atlantic today!) have their work cut out for them going forward this season.

How does Dyer not get 25-30 carries a game? He could be Auburn's workhorse and take the pressure off a suspect passing game.

[JMDurron]

How does Dyer not get 25-30 carries a game? He could be Auburn's workhorse and take the pressure off a suspect passing game.

I'm really not sure. He has a bit of an injury history (gimpy for several weeks last season), so they may be trying to not ride him too hard before the meaty part of the schedule comes up. It's still bizarre to me that he was on the field for so few plays against Clemson, he was 75% of the offense in that game. It doesn't excuse the execution of the rest of the group, but it's still odd, I agree.

I think part of the issue is that he is still one-dimensional. He doesn't seem to be useful in the passing game, either as a receiver out of the backfield, or as a blocker. McCalebb, while not the inside runner that Dyer is, can catch, block, and run to the outside. That means he's on the field for most of the plays that could be run or pass, as opposed to Dyer's "We know they're running!" plays. Even given all that, Dyer should be out there more. I think the coaches know something we don't about his health, or likely health if he was getting more carries.

[JMDurron]

Auburn's offensive execution was abysmal, again, today, but this time it was just on the passing plays. The offensive line declined to pass block for most of the first half, and Barrett Trotter clearly looks like cannon fodder left out to take hits in Kiehl Frazier's place until both Frazier and the OL are ready for prime time. Trotter managed to get screwed by his offensive line, make horrible decisions, and execute correctly chosen throws poorly. By all accounts, he's a great guy, so an honest evaluation of his stint as starting QB (and it's going to be most, if not all of this season) would be "he has a great personality."

On the plus side, Trotter can throw some rockets when his feet are set, Michael Dyer is a beast even when he gets injured in the middle of the game, and the defense brought what they had shown in the 1st quarter against Clemson for an entire 4 quarters, since the offense didn't leave them out to dry for 70+ plays for a change. Even the pass defense was respectable, with the biggest blemish being a 50-yard TD pass/offensive PI (borderline push-off, not a travesty to call or not call, but it's still a part of the data) to South Carolina's future NFL wide receiver. It helps that Stephen Garcia is an incompetent fucktard, but the quality of the coverage itself looked pretty good relative to the first four games. The much-maligned run defense absolutely shut down Lattimore for most of the game, Mark Ingram style.

Yet another point to prove that Auburn simply refuses to play boring football games. Jeez. There were a couple of key reviews in the game, but they seemed to be in the "can't overturn whatever the original call had been" vein, as opposed to the "Arkansas just got boned on that fumble/TD" type of thing. I am more optimistic about the defense and more pessimistic about the offense in equal measure relative to last week, so...I still have no idea what to expect from this bunch.

Onto Arkansas, where I desperately hope that they continue to refuse to tackle opposing running backs. I didn't see much of the Ark-TAMU game, so perhaps a light switch went on for Arkansas' defense that will make things very ugly next week. Arkansas does have homefield and experience advantages, and their offense is geared to exploit Auburn's secondary to a degree that Garcia wasn't capable of today.

Edited by JMDurron, 01 October 2011 - 07:02 PM.

[Bernie Carbohydrate]

I was at the Auburn-South Carolina game and those USC fans were incensed at Garcia. He'd come in on the hot seat, and Spurrier being Spurrier had already undercut him, and boy he played like crap.

Trotter vs. Garcia was a study in QB incompetence. Trotter specialized in bailing out of the pocket and sprinting toward the sideline. Garcia defined inaccuracy, including one ball heaved so far out of bounds (not on purpose) it nailed a guy standing BEHIND the Gamecock bench.

Both Auburn and South Carolina are deeply flawed teams that tried and tried to give the game away, but the 4th quarter proved South Carolina just didn't want it a little bit more.

Nice to see Dyer take over.

[JMDurron]

He redshirted last season due to injury. He is currently projected as a FB (replacing the perpetually in trouble Eric Smith if all goes well), so he would mostly be blocking, and getting the occasional carry. Watching the A-Day (Spring Scrimmage) game, he is surprisingly fleet of foot, but is often missing his assignments. Right now, he looks like the kind of physical freak that makes fans drool, but he has a ways to go before being deployed as an effective weapon.

He won't be getting a ton of regular RB carries with Michael Dyer (Soph All Purpose Back) and Onterrio McCalebb (Junior Speedster) back for another round. If he learns the blocking schemes well enough, he would be blocking between the tackles for Dyer, which would just be obscene with the OL talent Chizik has added in the last two recruiting classes. That last sentence could be also applied to Wily Mo Pena laying off breaking balls, though, so I don't share the expectations that the rest of the Auburn fanbase seem to have for him. He's only a RS FR, though, so there's plenty of room for upside. Eric Smith has been given another chance to stay on the roster as the primary FB after some slightly overblown off-the-field issues this offseason, so if Smith behaves himself, I think you'll see relatively little of LaDarious Phillips in the 1st team offensive sets in 2011.

I have an update on this front. We have a Ladarious Phillips sighting from the South Carolina game, and I didn't notice it at the time. Eric Smith has not seen the field all season as far as I can tell, and this has opened the playing time for Phillips, who is being used as a blocking fullback/h-back. The Auburn equivalent of Eric Van put together an excellent post that included an image breaking down a 18-yard Michael Dyer run, which illustrates Phillips' role.



Auburn has not had a ton of goal line situations yet, but when they have, they have so far run Michael Dyer or Kiehl Frazier up the middle, not Phillips. He may get some carries later in the year, but he's primarily a blocker right now.

[chester]

Per ESPN: "Florida was 1-for-6 with two interceptions on throws of 15-plus yards against LSU Saturday. It was the fifth time this season that LSU's opponent failed to have more completion than interceptions on throws of 15-plus yards."


The LSU defense might be one the best college football has ever seen thus far. A little disappointed they didn't get to play Brantley. They still have some good match-ups coming up and it should be fun to watch and see if LSU can keep on dismantling the rest of the league's offenses.

[sachmoney]

Stephen Garcia has (finally) been dismissed from the South Carolina program.

"Being a student-athlete at the University of South Carolina is a privilege, not a right," athletic director Eric Hyman said in a statement, "and we remind all of our student-athletes that there are consequences for their actions. For Stephen to return to and remain with the football squad this fall, we agreed on several established guidelines. Unfortunately, he has not been able to abide by those guidelines and has therefore forfeited his position on the roster. We wish him the best of luck as he moves forward in life."

I guess they can start winning games now...

[Royal Reader]

Per ESPN: "Florida was 1-for-6 with two interceptions on throws of 15-plus yards against LSU Saturday. It was the fifth time this season that LSU's opponent failed to have more completion than interceptions on throws of 15-plus yards."


The LSU defense might be one the best college football has ever seen thus far. A little disappointed they didn't get to play Brantley. They still have some good match-ups coming up and it should be fun to watch and see if LSU can keep on dismantling the rest of the league's offenses.

Can't wait until they come to the Capstone. Both teams look amazing so far, hoping that the combination of homefield and having Nick Satan rather than Crazy Les on the sideline makes the difference.

[JMDurron]

Both the Cam Newton and "HBO 4" investigations are officially over, at least as far as the first one concerns Auburn.

NCAA says Auburn has no Major Violations, Ends Investigation

[PaulinMyrBch]

Living in SC is pretty fun if you don't like the Cocks...the fans are all over the place with opinions, the entire following is subject to wild mood swings when things happen. Today's tide of opinion is classic. Apparently they've always hated #5 and they're glad he's gone and they can't wait till Spurrier leaves behind him....I'm guessing Sparky Woods and Brad Scott aren't walking through that door.

[JMDurron]

Living in *A SEC State* is pretty fun if you don't like the *Closest SEC Team Not Named Vandy*...the fans are all over the place with opinions, the entire following is subject to wild mood swings when things happen. Today's tide of opinion is classic. Apparently they've always hated *The Starting QB* and they're glad he's gone and they can't wait till *The Current Head Coach* leaves behind him....I'm guessing *Former Coach* and *Another Former Coach* aren't walking through that door.

It's funny how this statement works pretty well for every school in the SEC except Vandy, generally at least once every 6-8 years, if not more frequently.

[PaulinMyrBch]

Yes, but the short term memory of the USC fans is special trait. Consistently bad with peak years of average prior to Holtz and Spurrier seem to part of the repressed memory. Loving it down here.

[JMDurron]

Cross-posting from the Week 7 Game Thread, Royal Reader asked me a question about Auburn going forward:

I know the current team's got what, seven seniors? How many juniors are there who aren't likely to declare? Do you see the team taking a big step forward next year, or will it be one more year after that?

There are 16 seniors on the roster, many of whom were walk-ons who got scholarships due to only 72 scholarship athletes being on the roster to start the year (oversigning my ass). Only 5 of those seniors have seen any significant playing time as far as I know. There are 17 juniors, and while I'm not sure that any of them *should* declare, there are 4 who could possibly get some NFL attention - CB T'Sharvan Bell, RB Onterio McCalebb, TE Philip Lutzenkirchen, and WR Emory Blake. I am being really, really generous for the first and last names there, as neither have NFL size, IMO. Almost every other player of significance on the roster is a SO or FR. I see a big step forward next year, led by QB Kiehl Frazier, particularly on the defensive line and at RB, even if McCalebb leaves. Assuming no major coaching staff turnover, combine the roster maturity and the even-year schedule (LSU, Arkansas, Georgia at home instead of on the road), and you have a solid shot for Auburn to take the SEC West. That is very dependent on Frazier's development, because he is clearly still very, very raw as a passer, to the point that he is not a candidate to be the starting QB this year despite the horrific performance of Barrett Trotter so far.

I'm actually pretty excited for next year, partly because of the week-to-week improvement I am already seeing on the defensive side of the ball. That's a very long way off, though, but it beats thinking about the "can Auburn cover a 3-TD spread?" question for this week's LSU game.

Edited by JMDurron, 17 October 2011 - 03:11 PM.

[Royal Reader]

Yeah, I can see that. I was never that sure about last year's Tide, but I knew going into that season they were likely to be very good in '11. It helps to not have the most dominant CFB athlete of the last decade playing in your division, of course.

[JMDurron]

Yeah, I can see that. I was never that sure about last year's Tide, but I knew going into that season they were likely to be very good in '11. It helps to not have the most dominant CFB athlete of the last decade playing in your division, of course.

And the next best QB in the division last year wasn't exactly chopped liver, either.

[Royal Reader]

True. Although Alabama actually beat him in Fayetteville. Our schedule's basically the opposite of yours - whoever gets the Iron Bowl has to go to LSU and Arkansas.

[SouthernBoSox]

Why did you have to mention that game?

Still haunts me.

[JMDurron]

LSU has some suspensions coming up for the Auburn game, and possibly beyond.

Spencer Ware, Tyrann Mathieu, Tharold Simon suspended for Auburn game

Quoting a different anonymous source, the Reveille website is reporting that Mathieu and Ware failed a drug test and the suspensions could include multiple games.

Ware is the teams's leading rusher with 512 yards and six touchdowns on 128 carries. Mathieu was LSU's leading tackler until last week and has two interceptions, three fumble recoveries and four forced fumbles. Simon is the Tigers third cornerback who plays in nickel situations.

If the suspensions of LSU's #1 Honey Badger CB and #1 RB include the Alabama game, then the SEC West race just ended. Game, set, and match to Alabama. Auburn's not capable of exploiting two missing CBs (#1 and #3), but the RB could have an impact on this Saturday's game, at least in terms of LSU's ability to cover the spread.

[RedOctober3829]

LSU-Alabama was just moved to an 8 pm start on CBS. Awesome.

[Captaincoop]

LSU has some suspensions coming up for the Auburn game, and possibly beyond.

Spencer Ware, Tyrann Mathieu, Tharold Simon suspended for Auburn game



If the suspensions of LSU's #1 Honey Badger CB and #1 RB include the Alabama game, then the SEC West race just ended. Game, set, and match to Alabama. Auburn's not capable of exploiting two missing CBs (#1 and #3), but the RB could have an impact on this Saturday's game, at least in terms of LSU's ability to cover the spread.

This must be a school-administered test (or "school" since we're talking about LSU), because the minimum penalty would have been a one-year suspension if it had been an NCAA test. Does anyone believe LSU has the institutional integrity to hold guys out of the Alabama game?

[JMDurron]

This must be a school-administered test (or "school" since we're talking about LSU), because the minimum penalty would have been a one-year suspension if it had been an NCAA test. Does anyone believe LSU has the institutional integrity to hold guys out of the Alabama game?

The suspension length, according to someone during the broadcast of the Auburn-LSU game, is apparently based on some kind of "subjective" precedent at LSU. That would be a "no", I think. The RB won't matter, they seem to have a bunch of roughly equivalent guys, but CBs who can actually tackle RBs like Richardson in the open field are going to be vital to LSU's chances to go on the road and take down Alabama. No honey badger = significantly less chance of a win.

[JMDurron]

Mathieu, Ware, Simon Back At Practice After Suspensions

BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU star cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, leading rusher Spencer Ware and defensive back Tharold Simon returned to practice on Tuesday for the first time since being suspended a week ago for violating the team's drug policy.

The three were barred from Tiger Stadium for No. 1 LSU's 45-10 victory over Auburn last weekend, but coach Les Miles said they should be on the field when the unbeaten Tigers visit second-ranked Alabama on Nov. 5 in what has become one of the most anticipated games of the college football season.

"We're practicing, preparing them to play and operating along that way," Miles said. "We're going to plan on using them."

Looks like they are back and going to play against Alabama, although Miles' phrasing might imply that there is some kind of ongoing review/determination happening as they practice.

[jon abbey]

I just noticed the SEC is a collective 31-4 out of conference this year. Even allowing for a bunch of cupcakes padding that, it's still impressive.

[JMDurron]

I just noticed the SEC is a collective 31-4 out of conference this year. Even allowing for a bunch of cupcakes padding that, it's still impressive.

Those 4 losses were to BYU (Ole Miss), Boise State (Georgia), Clemson (Auburn), and Louisville (Kentucky). Louisville isn't exactly what I'd call "good", but there were no losses to the cupcakes thus far (this is not the Utah State game you were looking for, move along!).

[sachmoney]

So ESPN's Wright Thompson had a tremendous article on Les Miles today. It's a great read for any college football fan.

[patman]

Dateline: The campus of The University of Alabama

The goosebumps are already here!

ESPN trucks are all over the place down by the stadium. The quad is completely covered in tents already.

I'm sure other colleges put on an excellent productions for their games too but I have a hard time imagining a bigger atmosphere and event than an Alabama football game. Get to the stadium early because it's about 45 minutes of blood pumping, adrenalin producing, goosebump and hairs on the back of your neck raising pregame awesomeness.


The Million Dollar Band marching into the stadium:



Alabama Tradition video up on the jumbotrons - this really gets the blood going:

[patman]

The Million Dollar Band taking the field - I love it when the drum majors come running in from the sides and then break into the high-step:


This is Alabama Football video:

[patman]

Players and coaches coming up the tunnel and out on to the field through the band (skip to 1:00):


Starting lineup (couldn't find this year's):

Edited by patman, 04 November 2011 - 02:31 PM.

[patman]

Thunderstruck (this is half official video and half inserted fan stuff) - :

[Royal Reader]

Superb stuff.

RTR.

[Infield Infidel]

Copying from the GT

LSU Boston was rocking tonight (The Baseball Tavern). Caught some of the Hogs too. They looked good abs, but my one worry for them is that they didn't convert their red zone opportunities. Additionally, I think they'll colapse when they play LSU's defense. I love Tyler Wilson and think he will be a NFL QB, but I don't think the offense has enough weapons around him to go against LSU. What is the tie breaker IF Arkansas DOES beat LSU (assuming LSU, Bama, and Arkansas win the rest of their games)?

BCS ranking is the tie-breaker.

I'd say that if Arkansas can go into Death Valley and beat LSU by a couple scores, Arkansas would have a chance. Bama beat Arkansas 38-14 but that game was in Tuscaloosa.

[Infield Infidel]

Georgia's won 7 straight, and has their last two games at home. Auburn's three losses are to top ten teams, so that will be tough, but Kentucky shouldn't be to difficult.

If the finish 9 wins after that awful start, this will have been a good year for Richt

Edited by Infield Infidel, 06 November 2011 - 11:00 PM.

[JMDurron]

Georgia's won 7 straight, and has their last two games at home. Auburn's three losses are to top ten teams, so that will be tough, but Kentucky shouldn't be to difficult.

If the finish 9 wins after that awful start, this will have been a good year for Richt

Auburn's 3 losses are all on the road to those Top Ten teams, as well. Of course, the game is in Athens, but it's a distinction worth mentioning when it comes to evaluating Auburn's losses. The Georgia game is most likely the difference between 7 and 8 wins for Auburn in the regular season, which I'm fine with having lost Cam, Fairley, and roughly 25 seniors from last year's team, particularly since they left something shiny behind.

I expect Alabama to improve to 3-7 in the last 10 Iron Bowls this year, so the Georgia game is the last "toss up" game in the schedule in my mind. Auburn's passing game will be in the best shape it will be in all season, with the bye week and cupcake against Samford to use to rest up key WRs (Blake and Reed), plus a QB starting who actually seems to be able to throw the ball down the field, so it's going to be a really interesting game.

BTW, Georgia has 3 games left, Georgia Tech on 11/26 should be an interesting game as well.

[SouthernBoSox]

Copying from the GT


BCS ranking is the tie-breaker.

I'd say that if Arkansas can go into Death Valley and beat LSU by a couple scores, Arkansas would have a chance. Bama beat Arkansas 38-14 but that game was in Tuscaloosa.

Tyler Wilson has more weapons than anyone in the country.

I don't see LSU loosing, but that is always a close game.

[Infield Infidel]

BTW, Georgia has 3 games left, Georgia Tech on 11/26 should be an interesting game as well.

Yeah, I figured they'd lose one of Auburn or GTech. Seems like Georgia is healthier this year than other teams.

I didn't realize Auburn's losses were on the road. They'll be darkhorse team next year.

[ivanvamp]

LSU #1 (duh) in the BCS that came out tonight.

Alabama #3, behind Oklahoma St.

Oklahoma St. still has to play Oklahoma. They lose that (a distinct possibility), Alabama will almost certainly - given the strength of the SEC over the Pac 12 - hold onto a top-2 spot in the BCS standings (gotta beat Auburn, of course). That would leave a possibly unbeaten Stanford at #3.

The interesting thing is LSU. They are at Arkansas the last game of the year, and then likely play Georgia in the SEC championship game. Neither of those will be easy, but I expect them to do it.

In other words, I see an LSU-Alabama rematch, which will pretty much piss off the entire non-Alabama country, because an undefeated Stanford with the best player in college football will be frozen out of the championship game. (and never mind an unbeaten Boise State)

[gtg807y]

Yeah, I figured they'd lose one of Auburn or GTech. Seems like Georgia is healthier this year than other teams.

I didn't realize Auburn's losses were on the road. They'll be darkhorse team next year.

A benefit of their schedule since the South Carolina game mid-September, a row of cupcakes and SEC-in-name-only (at least this year) teams. They certainly could beat Auburn and my Jackets, but I also wouldn't be surprised to see them lose one or both. Lots of talent, but I don't think they're very well coached.

Edit: the 5 SEC teams they've beat this year are a combined 5-24 in conference play

Edited by gtg807y, 07 November 2011 - 12:21 AM.

[JMDurron]

LSU #1 (duh) in the BCS that came out tonight.

Alabama #3, behind Oklahoma St.

Oklahoma St. still has to play Oklahoma. They lose that (a distinct possibility), Alabama will almost certainly - given the strength of the SEC over the Pac 12 - hold onto a top-2 spot in the BCS standings (gotta beat Auburn, of course). That would leave a possibly unbeaten Stanford at #3.

The interesting thing is LSU. They are at Arkansas the last game of the year, and then likely play Georgia in the SEC championship game. Neither of those will be easy, but I expect them to do it.

In other words, I see an LSU-Alabama rematch, which will pretty much piss off the entire non-Alabama country, because an undefeated Stanford with the best player in college football will be frozen out of the championship game. (and never mind an unbeaten Boise State)

There are two key factors to consider here when comparing Alabama and Stanford. Alabama's standing over Stanford is, IMO, not large enough to withstand both a Stanford win over Oregon, AND a LSU win over Arkansas. Arkansas losing would drop their rankings, and be a minor hit on Alabama's computer standing just as Oregon should be a major boost to Stanford's. Auburn isn't ranked highly enough to provide a computerized boost to Alabama from the Iron Bowl, IMO, so I think Stanford jumps Alabama if they beat Oregon, stay undefeated, AND LSU takes care of Arkansas.

Personally, I'd love to see LSU-Stanford, or even better, LSU-Boise State by virtue of an Alabama loss to Auburn, if only because of the sheer hilarity of LSU crushing Boise State on both lines. It would be like watching someone play NCAA Football on freshman difficulty level.*

* - That someone would still suck at offense, so it wouldn't be a blowout in terms of the scoring, but there would be a physical whipping involved.

Edited by JMDurron, 07 November 2011 - 01:32 PM.