No Love From the Writers
by WarDamnZach on Jul 15, 2009 1:00 AM CDT
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Wow... what an I say, I am somewhat shocked Auburn is predicted to finish no better than fourth in the west. Not in the SEC but in the West! I am not expecting to win it, but to be fourth? I guess that is what happens when you suck it up in the previous season as well as have an all new coaching staff.
Ole Miss is still a surprise to me. I cannot see them being able to beat LSU, Bama, and us all in the same season. Houston Nutt is going to get the best out of his players, but can these guys build off the great bowl win over Texas Tech? Are they ready to be "winners?"
LSU is much like Auburn... except they did not totally suck. They only partially laid an egg. With a QB race solved, the massive talent on campus, and "The Hat" (as bad as it pains me to say). LSU could be back and ready to totally forget the 8-5 of last season.
What is interesting to me is that Bama (last years west champion) is only predicted to finish first in one publication. They are going to be loaded yet again, but they have QB and offensive line questions. We as Tigers no exactly what that is like. The Tide is not thin on the offensive line, they are just not experienced. It is going to be a tall order to pull out the west with a green O-Line and QB.
Arkansas is in front of us in all the publications except the Sporting News (which we all know loves Auburn, and that is shocking to me. While Ryan Mallett is going to make the Piggies more consistent, I am not ready to say that they will finish ahead of Auburn. Maybe I am drinking the Kool-Aide a bit, but will Petrino have the same fire to beat the Tigers with Tuberville gone?
Here is how it is broken down:
Athlon: Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU, Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi State
Lindy’s: LSU, Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi State
Phil Steele: Ole Miss, Alabama, LSU, Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi State
Sporting News: Ole Miss, LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Mississippi State
The Kickoff: LSU, Ole Miss, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi State
Feel free to chat it up!!!!
War Damn Eagle
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Hey it 's the preseason...
I’ll give it a go.
1-LSU
2-AUBURN
3-OLE MISS
4-ARKANSAS
5-Alabama
6-MISS STATE
Really?
You have AU 2nd? I love the dedication, but I can’t say I agree.
I think 1 or 2 will go to Bama or Ole Miss. I think Bama has the easiest schedule with a lot of their big games at home. Ole Miss gets to play a lot of big gmaes in Oxford as well. Nutt has these guys believing they can win it all. If LSU is gonna be in the top two they have a few tough away games to win (UGA, UA, Ole Miss).
Auburn plays at UT, UGA, LSU and Ark so we’ve got some tough road trips. Having not seen a down yet it’s hard to guess how these will turn out. Arkansas also has a tough road sched, heading to Bama, UF, ole miss and Death Valley. I think MSU is sort of the x-factor. They have an average away schedule, but i cnt say I have a clue what sort of team they’ll have this season.
Whatever happens I think third place will come down to how these teams play on the road,
"Jay Jacobs can't go to the bathroom without Bobby Lowder's permission" - Paul Finebaum
by GumptownTiger on Jul 15, 2009 9:06 AM CDT up reply actions
You're crazy
"If on-base percentage is so important, then why don't they put it up on the scoreboard?" - Jeff Francouer
by jd is legend on Jul 15, 2009 9:19 AM CDT up reply actions
Yep...
I have not jump on the you are Crazy Train as well. Don’t get me wrong, I would love for Auburn to finish that well, but second is quite high. I am hoping for third.
If you are a War Damn Eagle, you can War Damn anything.
by WarDamnZach on Jul 15, 2009 10:06 AM CDT up reply actions
Just wanted to go on record
As being as optomistic as this guy…but Bama won’t be that low.
Upon moving to AL, I let my wife decide who she would root for. After one day at a new job full of Bama fans, she met me at the door with a hearty cry of "WAR EAGLE"
by SandMountainTiger on Jul 15, 2009 11:35 AM CDT up reply actions
I'm optimistic too
In that part of my brain that says, “Don’t spend money you don’t have,” I see us going 8-4. I see our quarterback situation and recognize it for what it is. We have all new coaches, and our third offensive scheme in as many years.
But in that part of my brain that sees me flying down the Autobahn in a red Ferarri with Salma Hayek, I believe we can beat everybody… maybe even LSU. But I have to have one loss because the West is no picnic.
Looking at each team, even now, they have weaknesses from last year due to injury and attrition/graduation/NFL draft. Our coaches may be new, but thay are all experienced quality guys. Chizik is the same guy that coached our 2004 D to 13-0. Malzahn is a creative offensive guy who cranked out the yards last year. We have very good running backs. Our kicking has improved. All our coaches are on the same page now. W have something to prove. Something to fight for. Everybody. This year matters for each member of the team in a way that previous years may not have. All of that builds spirit and character that blossom on game day.
When you’re on top, you get the big head and take some opponents for granted. We ain’t doing that this year.
by KungFuPanda9 on Jul 15, 2009 12:10 PM CDT up reply actions
I can see us going 8-4 for sure
Actually, I could see us winning anywhere from 2-12 games next year. I’m gonna take the average and say 7, just spouting off the top of the head
"If on-base percentage is so important, then why don't they put it up on the scoreboard?" - Jeff Francouer
by jd is legend on Jul 15, 2009 4:08 PM CDT up reply actions
I’ll be very surprised if Auburn finishes better than fourth. I wouldn’t be entirely shocked if they finish dead last.
Ole Miss did well last year but will have a target on their backs this year. Jevan Snead is only one guy. I see Ole miss falling to both Alabama and LSU.
Arkansas will be very much improved. They actually began to look like some semblance of an SEC football team by the end of last year.
Alabama struggled in some games last year but the “questions” they have at QB and O-line are overblown by the media.
If Jordan Jefferson and play consistently the way he did in the Chik-fil-a bowl, we may be seeing LSU in Atlanta.
Mississippi State……enough said.
1. Alabama or LSU
2. LSU or Alabama
3. Ole Miss
4. Arkansas
5. Mississippi State or Auburn
6. Auburn or Mississippi State
Face it guys. With a new and unproven coach and some major issues offensively, you’re to go through some growing pains this year. Now the overall record may not be that bad because you have a favorable non-conference schedule. However, when conference play starts, the Tigers will probably struggle. Stranger things have happened but it is what it is. Get ready for a long season. It eventually happens to everyone and it’s no fun when it does. However, Auburn will bounce back. Bouncing back this year though, is very doubtful.
Thats what I was thinking
"Jay Jacobs can't go to the bathroom without Bobby Lowder's permission" - Paul Finebaum
by GumptownTiger on Jul 15, 2009 10:38 AM CDT up reply actions
We will beat Tennessee this year. They are losing a lot of guys to injury already. (I know they’re in the East but it counts as a conference W.)
We will beat Mississippi State.
The two unknowns are Ole Miss and Arkansas. Can Ole Miss handle the psycholgical pressure? It is one thing to want to win. It is another to know you are going to win. Knowing you will win depends on having a tradition of winning, even when behind. (Think Univ SoCal a couple years ago.)
Arkansas is the dark horse.
Alabama has a new quarterback and some holes in that legendary OL from last year.
I think we beat Arkansas and maybe Ole Miss. Maybe even Alabama because that game is always unpredictable… and we have some ’splainin to do.
LSU
maybe Alabama (It hurts me to say it)
Auburn
Ole Miss
Arkansas
Miss St
the fun fact about college preseason rankings...
THEY ARE NEVER RIGHT!!! LOL- Remember the whole thing with Tommy T wanting to get rid of the pre-season rankings all-together b/c they skewed the BCS numbers for teams that were ranked low and actually SUCKED!!
Long live CFB controversy!!
JJ Fe
You are right....
I hate the preseason rankings as well. I think there should be no poll until October 1st. Everyone will at least had the opportunity to play a few games and see what they have. It will never be that way, because what would be complaining about then????
If you are a War Damn Eagle, you can War Damn anything.
Preseason polls mean nothing. I think Athalon last year had 5 teams in the top 25 who didn’t even make a bowl game. Including us :( But, alas, I think we can be last years old miss. Truely
by war damn philly on Jul 15, 2009 4:42 PM CDT reply actions
RANKINGS
1) Bottleneck..AU, UA, LSU, OM……………….Top
2) Bottleneck,,AU, UA, LSU, OM, ARK………Second Teer
3) Bottleneck..AU, OM, ARK, …………………….Third Teer
4) Bottleneck..AU, MSU…………………………….Last Teer
Conclusion…..AUBURN will be the most difficult to predict.
OM, ARK second most to predict.
Team conclusions Team rankings: UA 1 to 3
ARK 3 to 5
AU 2 to 5
LSU 1 to 4
OM 1 to 4
MSU 4 to 6
Note the clear divide in the writers’ projections:
Top 3: LSU, Ole Miss, UA
Bottom 3: Arkansas, AU, MSU
This is true of every list, with the actual orders differing within the 3’s.
COUNT ON THIS: At least one of the top 3 teams will disappoint. This is the SEC, teams overachieve, teams underachieve, and the writers miss it every preseason (otherwise we’d have been in Atlanta last year). But count on it, either LSU, Ole Miss, or UA will not finish in the top 3 of the SEC West.
If one of those top 3 does not finish there it means one of the bottom 3 has a chance to get into the race.
Who will not be in the top 3? LSU & UA have more talent than Ole Miss. Ole Miss & UA have better coaching than LSU. Ole Miss gets LSU & UA at home. LSU gets UA on the road. I say LSU disappoints.
Who will make it out of the bottom 3? MSU just doesn’t have the talent, has a new staff, gets Arkansas & AU on the road. The Arkansas staff has a year on the AU & MSU staffs. Arkansas was improving as last season ended, AU was disintegrating. Arkansas gets AU at home. I hate it, but I think Arkansas gets into this battle ahead of us.
My prediction:
1. Ole Miss – slight home field edge over UA
2. UA
3. Arkansas
4. LSU – Les Miles starts hearing the howls
5. AU – a win in Baton Rouge trades us places with LSU on this list
6. MSU
I started a fire....
I actually have some rationale to my predictions.
1. Auburn has some very good talent on the offense.
2.The offensive line is healthy, and hungry!
3.The recieving corps has had a major boost in coaching
4.Running Back U (nuff said!)
Auburn has probably as good a defense as anybody in the country. Just aren’t as deep at all the positions.
IMHO the best defensive mind as a head coach.
Young energetic coaching staff, that have fallen head over heels in love with Auburn.
War Eagle!
Running Back U?
Malzahn runs a spread similair to Franklin. He does feature the run more, but I still don’t know if it is going to allow us to have the running game we used to.
We don’t have a QB that can lead the offense and while we have better receiver coaches, do we now all of a sudden automatically have better receivers?
The O line? Time will only tell, but they looked like trash last year so we’ll need a complete 180 there.
As far as defense, we still don’t have a secondary.
I’m not trying to be negative Nancy here just playing devil’s advocate. I’d love to see us end up at the top of the west, I just don’t see it this season.
"Jay Jacobs can't go to the bathroom without Bobby Lowder's permission" - Paul Finebaum
by GumptownTiger on Jul 16, 2009 10:13 AM CDT up reply actions
i
actually thought he was kidding on his first post…but he actually backed it up with
IMHO the best defensive mind as a head coach.
Ok…i know Chizik is a good if not great defensive coach. No one can really argue that BUT…to try to claim he’s the BEST reeks of homerism….I could name you 3 other current head coaches in College football that would rank above Chizik on the defensive side of the ball…
Who? Well in no particular order…
1. Pete Carrol- you can hate USC all you want, but there is no denying that Carrol is one of, if not the best defensive mind in college football.
2. Nick Saban- I know this might also reek as homerism but come on..you know its true. Saban is a defensive guy..just look at was he did at Alabama last year…
3. Bo Pelini- Perhaps a stretch but when he was at LSU, they were just plain nasty.
I have to disagree with both you and Koolbell....
you cannot seperate Chizik out of that group first of all…..after all show me another defensive coordinator that had too undefeated seasons consecutively much less for two different teams. As far as Saban who is a very good head coach? Yeah that smacks as homerism without a doubt. Pete Carroll is a defensive minded coach and a hell of a head coach but to say he or Saban are the best defensive coaches is still a complete guess. On the other hand Chizik is definitely a great head coach but to say he is THE best is subjective at best…..as a defensive coordinator he showed he was one of the best in the country without doubt but lets leave it there. As far as Pelini goes he is a great defensive coach and in the same league of Coordinators as Chizik. I just hope that Chizik can prove that he is going to be a great head coach because thats what he’s being paid to be…..a head coach.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
wait..
i hope you miss spoke here…
On the other hand Chizik is definitely a great head coach
you can’t be serious…
and
Pete Carroll is a defensive minded coach and a hell of a head coach but to say he or Saban are the best defensive coaches is still a complete guess.
So Saban’s defenses have always been top notch…Carrol’s also, and you still think they are a complete guess? How about Carrol’s NC’s and Saban’s…how about undefeated seasons…How about the countless number of other coaches they have “coached up”…or NFL players they have put into the league???
How does that not put them as DC’s and Head Coaches on the top of the list…but Polini and Chizik are? Two guys who so far, haven’t done squat as HC’s…but are fine DC’s…
Please explain…
Sorry meant "coordinator".....
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
As far as defensive minded Head Coaches go they are.....
very good Head Coaches but that does not necessarily make them the “best defensive minds at head coach”. If I am not mistaken the statement was made in reference to who are the best defensive minded coaches that are head coaches….not who are the best head coaches that are defensive minds. That is my understanding of his statement and that is my pretense as well.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
hmm
mine too…
but i guess Saban and Carrol got their lumps in the NFL…so they have little experience as DC"s in the college game..
So by using that standard..i guess you are right..
But if you gave me the choice of having Chizik, Carrol, Polini, and Saban as mine/ your guy..id go with Saban or Carrol…
Who would you pick?
As of right now....
yes Chizik and Pelini have a long way to go to prove themselves in the HC department so if forced to make a choice I also would go with either Saban or Carroll. But I am not and that was not part of the discussion at least not from me. Given what both Chizik and Pelini have to work with its also hard for me to see either ending their tenure in complete failure…..even Ron Zook had a modicum of success at UF.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
Chizik had two straight undefeated season as DC
This isn’t a great argument to make. He had incredible talent on both of those teams’ defenses, and the offenses on those teams were pretty stout too. Take away the talent or the offense, and the teams probably don’t go unbeaten.
"If on-base percentage is so important, then why don't they put it up on the scoreboard?" - Jeff Francouer
by jd is legend on Jul 16, 2009 2:53 PM CDT up reply actions
I think it is a great argument to make.....
especially when you consider that Chizik was instrumental in bringing in that talent to AU and that his predecessor at UT was unable to use that defensive talent as effectively as Chizik. Chizik brought Monte Kiffen’s Tampa 2 defense to the college ranks and tweeked it to make it work for him…..that makes him an innovator in my opinion. I am optimistic that he will be a good HC but I know he’s a very good DC.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
For what its worth....
Malzahn’s offense is a run first offense out of spread formation that utilizes play action as much as most pro style offenses and Franklins wasn’t even close to that. Once you get past the initial set of the play Malzahn’s offense does very little to resemble the Otis’ playbook. If you would like confirmation beyond the spring game look at the % of run plays to pass plays for Tulsa the past two years as well as the piggy offense in 06.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
Isn’t it kinda hard to use what he did at Tulsa as an example? Just purely on the fact that AU should have better talent than Tulsa, so he should be able to be more versatile. Or is a run first spread always been his style?
Not really....
if you look at the bulk of Tulsa’s opposition the were playing similar talent to themselves and while AU certainly has better talent than Tulsa only a moron would fail to recognize that the bulk of talent we have on offense was recruited for pounding the ball in a physical running game. So its still hard for me to think that he will do anything different at AU than he did in Tulsa. And while we only saw the shell of the offense in the spring game we certainly saw what we expected out of the running attack.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
Not sure if you can count his time at Arkansas for him
That wasn’t his offense like what we saw at Tulsa after that and what we saw in Auburn’s spring game. That was a Houston Nutt offense, no doubt.
"If on-base percentage is so important, then why don't they put it up on the scoreboard?" - Jeff Francouer
by jd is legend on Jul 16, 2009 2:55 PM CDT up reply actions
I don't think there is a question....
that we saw a large portion of Malzahn’s offense at Arkansas…..but the last part of the season it was Nutt calling the plays (plays that were part of Malzahn’s repetoire). Houston Nutt is no idiot….just because he pulls the play calling from Malzahn doesn’t mean he cans the playbook, especially when its effective. And I don’t think there is any doubt that Nutt carried a good deal of those plays to Ole Miss.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
Actually
Thats one of the big reasons we ran Nutt out of Arkansas. Because he was a retard when it came to calling plays. Remember the Aub-Ark game where the score was 9-7? It’s because Nutt never changed the plays up (run it up the middle every time). He thought McFadden would “eventually break one” if you ran it down the middle each time. We had one of the best backfields in the history of college football and we went 8-4.
by Razorback1477 on Jul 18, 2009 6:43 PM CDT up reply actions
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