Anyone else hearing we are talking to

[JMDurron 0]

If we're gonna be viewed as a top program, we have to start taking on other top programs(Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Va Tech, Oregon.)

Absolutely, so let's take them on...in January.  That means making long-term strategic decisions when it comes to schedule planning, in order to maximize our chances of reaching a BCS game. 

I do like the idea of upgrading Clemson to an Oklahoma-type potentially when neither Florida nor Tennessee are going to be on our East Division rotation part of the schedule, but that's the only time when I would want to do that.  Even then, that leaves us vulnerable in years when South Carolina happens to be rolling, plus we always have Georgia anyway, so even that justification seems rather thin.

Scheduling top tier opponents to get recognition while building up a program to be a competitor is one thing, sustaining success is another.  Contrary to my expectations two years ago, Auburn doesn't need to be built up like FSU did in the early 1980s, Auburn needs to put itself in a position to keep winning.  That means not grinding already elite talent into dust for some measure of respect that will never come anyway, IMO.  The only thing that brings long-term recognition is Championships.  That's it.  A strong OOC schedule will only get mentioned on the margins, it won't really matter. 

[AUTops 0]

Since we are the reigning National Champions, I think we should be real cocky and take on some of the best teams in the country. Such as.... oh wait.... we already play the three teams that won the four titles previous to ours... Oh darn.. I guess we'll have to think of some other way to be cocky....

[3rdgen 2]

Since we are the reigning National Champions, I think we should be real cocky and take on some of the best teams in the country. Such as.... oh wait.... we already play the three teams that won the four titles previous to ours... Oh darn.. I guess we'll have to think of some other way to be cocky....

[benjazz 0]

My dream schedule for the 4 non conference games is this:

1.  Jax State/Samford.    Homecoming.   Keep the D2 money in state

2.  Troy/UAB.  why not in alternating years?  I'm not scared of them.  Tons of local interest

3.  So. miss./Memphis/So. fla./La. tech. Etc.   Solid regional game

4.  BCS national game for a home and home.

But I'm a dreamer

[Rednilla 5,389]

If you want to be the best, play the best and beat the best. A lot of AU fans are quick to bring up a lack of respect that is shown towards AU. This "I don't want to play the elite schools because we might lose" attitude is not gonna get that respect. I can understand the media's stance on AU. We never play anybody OOC worthwhile. The one time we did recently(USC) we got our buts handed to us twice in a row. We got whipped by Ga Tech. We beat Clemson, Kansas State and W. Virginia. Not impressive at all. If we're gonna be viewed as a top program, we have to start taking on other top programs(Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Va Tech, Oregon.)

I presume that in those "top programs" you would include Alabama, LSU, and maybe even Georgia...all of whom are on our schedule every single year. Throw in the occasional dances with Tennessee (BCS Champs in 98) and Florida (BCS Champs 06, 08, AP/Coaches' National Champs 96), and our plate fills up with big names pretty quickly.

I understand, but by 1987, FSU was considered an elite top 5 type teams. They could have done without going and scheduling Notre Dame at that point as they were established and realing in blue chip recruits and Bowden was at the top of his game. Notre Dame was at its peak under Holtz and beat FSU in 1988 in route to the NC. Just saying some moderation at that point was appropriate as Bowden had the program where it needed to be. Kinda what I am saying about AU. We do not need to be like LSU the past few years playing no one OC, but we also do not need to be FSU of the late 80's or even AU at times in the 80's playing the toughest schedule in the nation year in and year out. Just a middle ground...

Do you know when that 88 game was planned? I'd be willing to bet it was put to ink around 84 or 85, which is before FSU had climbed to an elite level. Besides, FSU didn't join a conference until 92, so they had to fill their schedule somehow..

[Tiger n Miami AU83 25]

If you want to be the best, play the best and beat the best. A lot of AU fans are quick to bring up a lack of respect that is shown towards AU. This "I don't want to play the elite schools because we might lose" attitude is not gonna get that respect. I can understand the media's stance on AU. We never play anybody OOC worthwhile. The one time we did recently(USC) we got our buts handed to us twice in a row. We got whipped by Ga Tech. We beat Clemson, Kansas State and W. Virginia. Not impressive at all. If we're gonna be viewed as a top program, we have to start taking on other top programs(Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Va Tech, Oregon.)

I presume that in those "top programs" you would include Alabama, LSU, and maybe even Georgia...all of whom are on our schedule every single year. Throw in the occasional dances with Tennessee (BCS Champs in 98) and Florida (BCS Champs 06, 08, AP/Coaches' National Champs 96), and our plate fills up with big names pretty quickly.

I understand, but by 1987, FSU was considered an elite top 5 type teams. They could have done without going and scheduling Notre Dame at that point as they were established and realing in blue chip recruits and Bowden was at the top of his game. Notre Dame was at its peak under Holtz and beat FSU in 1988 in route to the NC. Just saying some moderation at that point was appropriate as Bowden had the program where it needed to be. Kinda what I am saying about AU. We do not need to be like LSU the past few years playing no one OC, but we also do not need to be FSU of the late 80's or even AU at times in the 80's playing the toughest schedule in the nation year in and year out. Just a middle ground...

Do you know when that 88 game was planned? I'd be willing to bet it was put to ink around 84 or 85, which is before FSU had climbed to an elite level. Besides, FSU didn't join a conference until 92, so they had to fill their schedule somehow..

The 1988 AU/FSU game was not scheduled, it was actually in the sugarbowl. We played them in 84 & 85 then again in 87, 89, 91. Not sure how all that went down. We were also scheduled to play them in the kick off classic in 1993, but that was the game Terry Bowden / AU backed out of. We were supposed to suck in 1993, but we know how that turned out.

Pat Dye's best three teams were 1983, 1987, and 1988. I would say the 1988 team was the most talented. In fact I would say the best two teams in the country in 1988 were AU and FSU. AU outscored it's opponents during the season 331-79 (+252). FSU outscored their's 442-165 (+277). In fact FSU ended the season on one of the most dominant runs I have ever seen outscoring LaTech, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, and Florida 218-34.

And by the way, I made a mistake on who ND beat in 1988. It was Miami (not FSU) by 1 point.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Why not play Florida State in Atlanta to start the season in about 2 or 3 years? I'd still like to see us open the season against UCLA in Atlanta.

[InfernoOrangeSS 321]

I would love for us to get a home and home rivalry with either Michigan, UCLA or Notre Dame.  Any of them would be good for AU in the national perspective.  Mich gives that north/south rivalry flavor just like the PennSt/UA game used to have.  UCLA would be good because it is out west and a PAC-10 school, and ND is ND.  They will always have a lot of media attention.

[WarEagle10 77]

Why not play Florida State in Atlanta to start the season in about 2 or 3 years? I'd still like to see us open the season against UCLA in Atlanta.

We dropped FSU because they chose to play in the ACC. We need to never play them in a regular season game again IMO. They were the first choice of the SEC when we expanded. They "claimed" it was all about money by going into the ACC. I have heard that from my FSU friends for yearsssssssss. Last season they had to let asst. coaches from some of the lesser sports go because of money issues. I have always said, and continue to say, that FSU was scared of competing in the SEC in most sports. They made their bed, let them lie in it!

[JwgreDeux 1,279]

I am completely in favor of this type of opponent (Oklahoma types) to open the season for multiple reasons.  First and foremost is exposure.  By it being the first game of the season it will be talked about during the late Spring, all Summer, and early Fall.  Also, money, it would be a big money maker for both programs. BCS, playing this type of game only HELPS our quest to be BCS champs.  It boosts our computer ranking win or lose.  The whole season will still be in front of us and there would be ample time to recover from a this type of loss.  I would want to be smart about it and schedule it when we have a light year vs the East.  And lastly, but certainly not least, it is great for recruiting.

There is virtually nothing to lose. 

[sparkey 0]

I am completely in favor of this type of opponent (Oklahoma types) to open the season for multiple reasons.  First and foremost is exposure.  By it being the first game of the season it will be talked about during the late Spring, all Summer, and early Fall.  Also, money, it would be a big money maker for both programs. BCS, playing this type of game only HELPS our quest to be BCS champs.  It boosts our computer ranking win or lose.  The whole season will still be in front of us and there would be ample time to recover from a this type of loss.  I would want to be smart about it and schedule it when we have a light year vs the East.  And lastly, but certainly not least, it is great for recruiting.

There is virtually nothing to lose. 

There is always something to lose. Not saying I don't agree with you. In actuality I do. The problem is, Auburn loses just one of these huge games and they don't get into the national championship game. They won the whole thing with their schedule last year. I mean, isn't it a sound thought to say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it?"

[DO4AU2010 0]

I would be pretty excited about that. Oklahoma is usually ranked very high no matter how good they are so it would be good for our SOS.

Can you imagine how good we will be in 2015 with all these top notch recruiting classes? All of these elite players will have years of elite coaching. I wouldn't wana play us in 2015.

[JwgreDeux 1,279]

I am completely in favor of this type of opponent (Oklahoma types) to open the season for multiple reasons.  First and foremost is exposure.  By it being the first game of the season it will be talked about during the late Spring, all Summer, and early Fall.  Also, money, it would be a big money maker for both programs. BCS, playing this type of game only HELPS our quest to be BCS champs.  It boosts our computer ranking win or lose.  The whole season will still be in front of us and there would be ample time to recover from a this type of loss.  I would want to be smart about it and schedule it when we have a light year vs the East.  And lastly, but certainly not least, it is great for recruiting.

There is virtually nothing to lose. 

There is always something to lose. Not saying I don't agree with you. In actuality I do. The problem is, Auburn loses just one of these huge games and they don't get into the national championship game. They won the whole thing with their schedule last year. I mean, isn't it a sound thought to say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it?"

Several of the recent sec teams to win the MNC had a loss. Also, need I remind you of 04?  Big time spot light games, put your program in the spot light and enhance its national image.  Yes the MNC just did that for us, but you can't guarantee that happening, you can guarantee an enhanced image by scheduling these games. 

[Miden 0]

ONE thing I do have to give Bamma credit for is their scheduling of non-conference games. They line up games like Virginia Tech, Penn State, Michigan. Even though PSU and Michigan aren't great teams they are still prestigious  programs that get the media fired up.

All the while Auburn is going up against teams like Clemson and West Virginia. They aren't horrible opponents or anything, but they aren't anything even close to as 'sexy' as games against the likes of PSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, FSU, TEX, or Nebraska would be. I think we could upgrade our schedule by not playing necessarily harder teams, but teams with bigger brand name.

[Ed_ 3]

I would like more mid-profile game. Play A&M or OkSU. UNC, UVA. There is a median between scheduling Oklahoma and Louisiana Monroe, and we can't seem to find it.

I would love to see us play a traditional power that is having some issues of late such as Michigan or Notre Dame.  But honestly I would still like to see up play Oklahoma.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

We need to come up with 1 big game every few years. Kinda like the updykes has with PSU. That's always been a good series for both programs.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

How about start a series with Texas A&M?

[Rednilla 5,389]

I think the AD actually has been trying to get those kinds of games, it's just that there are only so many of them to be had, and Auburn was viewed nationally as not much more than Clemson before last season. Besides, less than a decade ago we played a home and home with USC, which is second to none in tradition.

I wish I still had the piece I wrote years ago to get the freelance job I had with the Montgomery Advertiser. Josh Moon wrote an article about how Auburn's scheduling was stupid, that the AD should be going after teams with tradition that are on the downswing, not up and coming programs like West Virginia (essentially the same argument presented here). I wrote a fairly long rebuttal in which I reminded him of the last time Auburn scheduled a team with tradition that was on the downswing, only to watch their quarterback (who won the Heisman that year) shred our defense, which led to a HUGE letdown the following week against GT, etc.

But I ended it by agreeing with him that that's the type of team Auburn should try to schedule, but considering that AU had been undefeated, 9-3, and 11-2 the previous three seasons (this was before the 07 campaign), and the fact that everyone is trying to schedule those types of teams, why would those teams want to face the resurgent Auburn Tigers?

At this point, however, we're in a different league. Winning a recognized title brings us to the national level that we should have been at for the last three decades (or, well, 28 years) rather than leader of the "close but no cigar" pack that they saw us as. As a result, I think we'll see a couple of those types of games in the near future.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Back in the 80s, we would play Florida State, Nebraska and Texas. We even played Southern Cal in the 2000s. Why don't we schedule teams like them again? Heck, we won a national championship so that should send a message out saying that we're willing take on anyone.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Why don't our people get with the Oregon people and work out a schedule for a home and home series. I'd also like to see us play Georgia Tech again.

[bloody tiger 0]

Back in the 80s, we would play Florida State, Nebraska and Texas. We even played Southern Cal in the 2000s. Why don't we schedule teams like them again? Heck, we won a national championship so that should send a message out saying that we're willing take on anyone.

coach tuberville said we would never play southern cal again, but that was when he was here, i dont know if coach chizik would say that