By War Eagle Atlanta
glg68@aol.com

After reading Jay's excellent article last week on what passes for greatness when it comes to coaches on the Plains, it got me thinking about all the ways we've come to define it, regardless of whom we choose to bestow it upon. The most popular is through SEC championships, and we all definitely agree that those are a whole lot harder these days than they used to be. I came of age with Auburn in the late 1980s, so I thought winning SEC titles was something we just did. But after a dearth of them in the 1990s, I slowly realized that they were a lot more special than I originally thought.

Winning the SEC title is so important now, that it has birthed its own sub-goal: winning the west. And you gotta do one before you even think about the other. Today I'm going to look back at our division since the conference split in 1992 and see exactly who's been winning the west the last sixteen years. One day I'm going to write a book on why Auburn should actually be in the eastern division of the SEC, but until that time, let's look at our short history where we currently reside.

I don't call it the wild, wild, west for nothing. Face it. Our division is WIDE open. Five of the six teams have made it to Atlanta (read: the SEC championship game), where only three from the other side has. And our lone hold-out may have made it had there been one more Manning in the household to enroll... For prognosticators, picking a winner from the east is like a game of 3-card Monty, but it's never easy in the west. There's always a dark-horse coming from somewhere, and winning six conference games doesn't guarantee you squat.

The west was dominated in the early days by Alabama. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the title game was in Birmingham those first two years, but probably not. Thankfully, the powers that be saw the light and moved it to a real venue and town, the one from which I claim my moniker. The Tide was dominant in the beginning, reaching the title game four of the first five years, and five times overall in the 1990s. After that, they petered out, not to return since, which isn't surprising, considering the coaching carousel that has plagued them the last decade. Overall, the Tide collected two SEC crowns in their five trips.

It's easy to see that LSU has been the dominant western power in the 21st century. After all, every one of their four appearances in Atlanta have come since 2001, and they've collected three titles for their effort. But things weren't always so rosy for the purple Tigers. They were hamstrung themselves by a number of coaching changes in the 1990s and posted virtually only half the SEC victories they did in their first eight years from the split than they did the last eight years (25 versus 47) Still, their three SEC titles are second most in the whole conference, behind Florida's six, and ahead of Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama's two apiece.

But what should we make our own beloved school? Doesn't it always seem that we can taste a west title on our lips only to have it stolen away cruelly at the last minute? Well, brothers and sisters, let me tell you. That ain't paranoia you're feeling, it's something real. It's a feeling that we're just waiting to be unleashed, but the rope is never cut. It's a feeling that we're about to do some open-field running in this division and this conference, but we just can't break one tackle. But most of all, it's a feeling that is backed up with the numbers.

We've been to Atlanta three times, which ties us with Arkansas for third most appearances in the west. We won one SEC title, which puts us ahead of them, but still behind the three and two titles of LSU and Bama, respectively. But we've never been able to put together a solid run like the Tide did in the 90s and LSU did here recently. Yet with few exceptions, we're never quite out of it year in and year out. Only three times out of sixteen seasons have we failed to win at least half of our regular season conference games, and over that time, we've averaged 5.06 conference victories out of 8, or a total of 81 conference wins. How many for Alabama? 76, or 4.75 per season. LSU? 72, or 4.5 per season. So what's our problem? Oh, the humanity...

Despite having more conference victories than any other western division team since the split, Auburn has sucked wind with the head-to-head competition with the eventual division winner. This number is going to shock you, but in those sixteen seasons, Auburn missed out from going to Atlanta SEVEN times by only ONE GAME. Just one little conference loss. And every one of those games was lost to the team that did go to the title game. As a matter of fact, we've done it the last three seasons in A ROW-- to LSU last year, to Arkansas in 2006, and to LSU in 2005. Can you believe it? One measly game each over seven seasons and we could have represented the west in Atlanta ten out of sixteen years.

So that is the reason why the Auburn family always feels that they're close but no cigar. That is the reason why we're the Buffalo Bills of the South. We just keep coming up short! But greatness is just around the corner. Our program is just on the edge of cutting through. We're going to break that tackle and dash through the secondary into the end zone. Tuberville has the momentum, and we're poised to do it. It's been said so often that his Auburn squads love to fly under the radar, and I think it's tradition that no one ever really expects us to win it all, but they always know we're going to be no one's pushover either.

I hope I live long enough to see how the SEC titles of yesterday will be judged by history to the ones of today. I wonder if they'll look at the old split titles as relics of years gone by, the same as leather helmets and placard-type scoreboards. I wonder how many we'll have by then. However many that is, I hope we look back at this point in history and realize that it was all worth the wait...

I believe we are all in agreement on this one.

By War Eagle Atlanta
glg68@aol.com

This week, the commissioners of the big six BCS conferences meet in Miami to discuss the state of the BCS and possibly propose various playoff scenarios. Mr. College Football himself, Tony Barnhart of the AJC, wrote a series of articles last week about the subject, culminating in Sunday's blockbuster expose' which should be required reading for all fans of CFB.

A 1-A playoff is right around the corner. We can all taste it. Only now can we start to believe in it. But know this: whatever inaugural system they implement is going to need some fine tuning--A LOT of fine tuning. But that's the fun of it. The important thing is to get one in place to show that it can work. We can address it's weaknesses later. Conventional wisdom says that a four-team playoff could be the first format put into place.

But a lot has to happen in order for a playoff to come about, and there are many obstacles in the road. Today I'm going to give you my list of who's driving the bus, who's on board, and who's about to get run over.

Leaders:

College football fans are by far the ones who are really leading the push for a playoff. No where else is it more evident than seeing how much we keep devouring the game. Attendance is up everywhere in the country, especially in the south, where stadiums are jammed to capacity each week. TV viewership and ratings are rising, and CFB sites on the Internet are exploding with new members thirsting for more info on their sport and their teams. Just how big is the demand? You need only look at how much exposure that spring games and recruiting get to demonstrate the escalating desire for more football.

Yes, we fans are hungry for more, and more than anything, we want championships to be decided on the field rather than by the media. When we finally get this done, fans are going to owe each other one big collective pat on the back!

The BCS Commissioners, who each represent the six conferences who make up the BCS, seem to finally be on board, having seen the writing on the wall that this playoff genie was refusing to be stuffed back into the bottle. The commissioners will eventually iron out an initial playoff scenario, but don't necessarily expect it this year. Sure, there will be regional biases, but perhaps new coalitions among conferences might be formed to finally gain acceptance among all. The commissioners know that the spotlight is shining directly on them, so the pressure is on. Although they don't enjoy total autonomy on making decisions, their recommendations do carry a lot of weight. Here's hoping that they move quickly.

The majority of BCS team coaches appear to be all for some sort of playoff. In the article in the AJC, all these coaches were polled about whether they'd like to leave the current system alone or have a four team playoff. More than half responded, and a majority of those definitely favor a playoff. Although it's not hard to imagine that any coach would want a chance for his team to play themselves into a title, don't forget the enormous pressure that will now be added for them to make it into this playoff--considerably more pressure than there already is in maintaining the status quo. That's something to consider for these guys who live and die by their wins and losses.

Followers:

The school presidents seem to be on the sidelines these days, seemingly allowing their proxies, the conference commissioners, to fight it out for them, but ultimately wielding veto power over the final decision. Realistically, I think that although the presidents may threaten to throw the rock in the blender, we can expect a flock mentality when it comes down to it, with conferences acting in concert to promote their own self interests. What we sometimes forget is that the presidents are tasked with overseeing the academic integrity of the member schools, something that supercedes sports. And until the NFL turns CFB into one big farm system, we always have to keep that in mind.

The non-BCS teams are the patient ones, quietly sitting in their seat on the bus, trusting that wherever the big boys decide to go, they're going to be brought along for the ride. Although currently long-shots for BCS slots, they have to know that a 4-team playoff would raise those odds even higher. Perhaps they hope that eventually the field would be expanded into a format that would allow for the junior conferences to participate. For the time being, they seem to be content to have their occasional Cinderella shot. Time will tell for them.

UGA president Michael Adams is the one person who characterizes those in academia who are accused of plagiarizing their peers. A little over a year ago, Florida president Bernie Machen decided to stick his neck out and suggest that the SEC presidents possibly take the initiative with a playoff proposal. The idea was instantly pooh-poohed by Adams; yet it is he who basically comes up with the same idea a year later. The chilly reception that followed forced groundhogs back into their burroughs for six more weeks.

The idea instantly crashed and burned, playing to only slightly better reviews than he and Machen's grass-roots effort to rename the World's Largest Outdoor C*cktail Party to something else. How good is a leader if no one is following, Dr. Adams? Although it doesn't take a rocket-scientist to figure out that no one likes a copycat, there's still a good chance that the other presidents could have still been pissed about how Adams unceremoniously dumped Vince Dooley a few years ago. No, wait. Sorry. That's MY reason...My bad...

In the Way:

The Big Eas(y)t is the one thing that is not like the others, the one thing that doesn't belong. Decimated by mass defections unheard of outside the old Soviet block, the Big East combines old guard schools like West Virginia, Pitt, and Syracuse with a host of new kids on the block, and frankly, they just don't deserve to be there with the rest of the big five. I mean, MAYBE, if they somehow convinced Notre Dame to join in football, but I don't think a good old-fashioned Catholic miracle could bring that to pass.

The prime reason that it's bad for an undeserving conference being added to the guest list of the playoff party is because it gives hope to the rest of the junior conferences who are standing at the rope line, trying to sneak in. Look, eventually you guys can be included, but it's going to take a little of that fine-tuning we were talking about before we can work you in. In the meantime, no soup for you! Come back, one year! Next!

Notre Dame. Why the hell not include ND on the list of obstructionists? I dunno... Maybe because the Pope was just in town and decreed that the Irish should not join a conference until after marriage? Come on! They're an obstacle because for now, they write their own ticket and they refuse to join a conference. (which will be their death knell, BTW) But the Irish's luster may be starting to tarnish and non-Irish fans are getting a little tired of the golden dome pony show. Last year ND got paid by the BCS a few million for their 3-9 record and an appearance in the Toilet Bowl. Anyway, write your own reasons why they're part of the problem in the comment section. Next!

The Pac-10, the Big 10(11) and the Rose Bowl are the biggest obstacles to avoid on the road to a playoff, and I'm thinking real soon here that we take a detour around them all together. If there's ever been a case of trying to take your ball on go home, these three are the epitome. Seemingly binded for eternity in a blood-pact in Pasadena, these three and their tradition are the hold-outs that prevent the four major bowls from becoming de facto playoff venues in the proposed 4-team tournament.

The Pac-10 went to a 9-game conference schedule in the 2006 season so that every team played every other team and could crown a champion on the field. That was a good first step in lieu of expanding and having a conference championship game. Inexplicably though, they still have had co-champions the first two years, seemingly ignoring head-to-head competition while determining the ONE champion. Hello! Anyway, crowning a true conference champion on the field will go a long way toward a playoff, especially when the playoff evolves into one between conference champions.

The Big 10(11) is truly a complete mess. Aside from having their ass handed to them in MNC title games of late, they are risking their own relevancy in the modern CFB world by refusing to expand by one more team and crown a true champion of their conference on the field. Seemingly, they want to remain a crusty relic of days gone by, relying on the media to vote into the national title hunt a multitude of their teams who never play each other during the season. If you say that this lack of a conference title game gives them an unfair leg up on all the real conferences that do have one, you'd be right. Don't shirk your responsibility of providing us your best, Big 10(11), if your best hasn't been tested against all your conference has. If you say that it'll just mean that your conference will devour itself, I'd say welcome to the SEC, baby!

Of course, all wrongs could be righted if somehow the Big 10(11) could manage to land the ever elusive Notre Dame into the ranks, but that would lend itself to new problems--like what to call the new conference since 'Big XII' is already taken...

The Rose Bowl is starting to remind me of that aging Hollywood star who wonders why the Paparazzi is no longer following him around. Can it be because the youth and vigor are long gone? You don't invite many people to your party, so pardon us if we start to think about throwing our own. How can you claim to be the 'Grandaddy' of them all if you don't even want to claim the red-headed step children of the CFB family? If you still want to cling to the old days and honor your pact with two conferences of yesteryear, then I guess it's your right. Just don't expect all the cameras to be flashing...

Guaranteed of a MNC game at least every four years, the RB is probably thinking that it may be as good as it gets if the playoff expands and even more venues are brought in. Although the idea of bypassing the RB completely was floated during the early formation of the BCS, no one really wants to exclude the Rose Bowl from any playoff scenario. CFB fans are traditionalists, and we'd like to have Pasadena on board. He's just going to have to realize that he can't be the leading man in every film.

So there's my compilation of all the players in the playoff scenario today. Just remember, it's not WHAT kind of playoff you get installed, it's THAT you get one. All the tuning and adjustments will be completed later. That's what the media is for. Since they'll no longer have as big a hand in determining who's going to be in it, they'll want to shape up the process to their liking as much as possible.

Playoff 1.0 is going to be less than perfect, and it's still going to rely heavily on the polls. With only four teams, the media is still going to be selecting who the participants are. Yes, team #5 and the rest of the cast are not going to be happy, but it's better than it is now. Eventually, the playoff will evolve into having all conference champions competing against each other, but that day is way off, considering the logistics in weighting all 1-A conferences against each other and having enough rounds to include them along with at-large teams. The road to a solution will be long, but think about all the great pit stops along the way.

War Eagle Atlanta will now take your stark criticism...

By War Eagle Atlanta
glg68@aol.com

Conference front-runner?

Seems like a trend that we can all relish in: SEC team finishes season on a roll, only loses a pair of conference games, and although fails to make it to Atlanta in December, wins their bowl game big, thus setting the table to be run to the title game for the following season .

We saw it with LSU after the 2006 season, in which they demolished Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl and were the hand-picked successors to Florida by the media as the upcoming champion in 2007. And now you're seeing it with Georgia, whose losses to South Carolina and Tennessee last year precluded them from playing in the title game, but propelled them into the Sugar to thoroughly trash an over-matched Hawaii team.  Starting to see the emerging trend now?

Heck, you can even draw parallels with the 2005 Florida team, whose 9-3 record in Urban Meyer's inaugural year wasn't bad, but didn't involve a Sugar Bowl appearance.  Nor did it involve a pre-season MNC nod for 2006--the Gators were ranked pre-season that year around an average of 6th.  But they went on to win it all anyway, giving the SEC it's second of three Mythical National Championships (MNC) in the new century.

But we're not even done with spring drills, you say. True enough, but the sports media these days never sleeps, and certainly does not like a void.  Just because college football isn't being played on the field, don't think for a minute that it isn't being played in the minds of coaches, fans, and the media alike.

Just like a Fortune 500 company these days doesn't have a CEO exiting stage left without a successor already being named, college football is rapidly coming to the point where they're not going to shut off the lights on the old season before they determine who the favorite for the next one will be. Hell, they're even starting to do it with head coaches--this 'coach-in-waiting' crap. Don't be surprised if they even start conducting exit polls outside the various bowl game venues so they can determine who the on-deck champion is going to be...

But a lot of giggling coming out of Athens here lately lets you know that the Dawgs are ready to have their day. Good for them. I think they're entitled to feel a little giddy. We Tigers probably shouldn't have much that we can say against them, being that we were in the same position going into the 2003 season, and we all know how that turned out. There's no team that benefits more from flying UNDER the radar than Auburn. That's how we like it--unexpected and under-appreciated. We never seem to live up to our lofty expectations anyway, so perhaps we can serve as a cautionary warning to the 2008 Dawgs.

But maybe we also serve as a little inspiration. You gotta ask yourself, "Why is the SEC getting so much love lately?" Everyone already knows that we're the toughest conference, right? Why has it taken them so long to recognize it?

I think a lot of the reason is that the media and the CFB powers-that-be feel guilty over Auburn having been left out of the MNC hunt in 2004 and are now bending over backwards to give deserving SEC teams every break and benefit of the doubt that they deserve. Of course, you have to factor in the superb competition in the conference, too, but at long last the SEC is being given its props. It sucks that it took a shafting of Auburn for everyone to recognize it, but at least it's time has come.

Florida at the end of the 2006 season is the first beneficiary. For sure, they don't get into the title game without a USC face plant to UCLA, and maybe an 11-1 SEC team is the natural choice anyway, but don't forget how strong the sentiments were to get a Michigan-Ohio State rematch for all the marbles. In my opinion, there's no way that a nascent Gator squad gets the call over Big Go Blue without a little extra caution and consideration from the media being exercised.

Then look at LSU last year--predicted to win it all. They shoot themselves in the foot twice, and almost shoot it four other times. Yet they win the SEC, and none of their losses are OOC. Couple that with the fact that virtually every other team lost near the end; and LSU gets the nod.

They're the first two-loss team EVER to get that chance. Think a two-loss team from almost any other conference gets the same opportunity?  Not a chance. The CFB powers were weighting those SEC losses a little differently than the rest...

Seem a little pre-ordained that LSU ended up where they were? Yea, maybe--I hate it when the media seemingly gets their way. There definitely was a lot of luck involved, but I think that LSU received supreme consideration, being the SEC champs.

And the growing trend seems to be that in a world without a playoff, perhaps the champion of the SEC deserves to automatically get a bid in the MNC title game. Call me crazy, but I think that's the way it's going. Give it a few more seasons and I'll know for sure.

So you Dawgs have a tough schedule out in front of you this season, perhaps the toughest of anyone.  But relax. Maybe you don't quite have to run the table. Facing the opponents you do in the conference you're in, even if you slip a little, maybe they'll cut you a little slack!