Chances of a classic Darkhorse year?

[Beaker 2,457]

56 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I just hope it never goes above 8 teams. 

Problem is D1 is just way too big with way too many teams. I'd love something similar to the NFL, except 8 regional divisions of 8 teams each, each division plays 7 divisional and 4 cross-divisional games, each division sends their champion to the playoffs. I just thought of this and have not spent more time than it took to type it thinking about how it would actually work. 

Hmmmm.   Maybe. 

 One thing I would like to see is teams have the choice to play 10, 11 or 12 games.   If they are concerned about health and really believe they will be a playoff team - play 10 games.  Yeah they roll the dice, but there is integrity in their decision.   A team could be rewarded more easily by playing the longer schedule and if they played quality opponents like Penn State - even more consideration.  

Right now there is so much bias ingrained in the system.   Did you know bama played in the playoffs and didn't even win their division back in 2017?    No, for real...haha - it eats us all still today.   This is why I want 8 or more.

 

Thanks for the banter.

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

13 minutes ago, Beaker said:

Did you know bama played in the playoffs and didn't even win their division back in 2017? 

It's so crazy that people used to complain about the Pac 10 not having a playoff. Except they played every team in their conference and decided their champion in the most accurate way possible. 

[Beaker 2,457]

13 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

It's so crazy that people used to complain about the Pac 10 not having a playoff. Except they played every team in their conference and decided their champion in the most accurate way possible. 

I hear the SEC is considering changing up our schedule rotation.  I just hope we ignore the rivalry crap and make it balanced for all.   We can play our rivals when we are supposed to.   This whole "but we have always played ---" (fill in the blank) has cost us several chances to have a perfect or near perfect season.  

And I am sure you know you can't just say, "well Auburn also dropped a game to LSU or Miss St."   When you have those heavy weights at the end,  you set up your game plans with those in mind.   This is why OU  wins 11 games every year - they play one or two challenging games - ONLY. 

Auburn will flourish if the schedules across the SEC were balanced in terms of difficulty.   I mean - we will challenge for 1st - 3rd annually.  I truly believe it.

 

 

[Beaker 2,457]

1 minute ago, Beaker said:

I hear the SEC is considering changing up our schedule rotation.  I just hope we ignore the rivalry crap and make it balanced for all.   We can play our rivals when we are supposed to.   This whole "but we have always played ---" (fill in the blank) has cost us several chances to have a perfect or near perfect season.  

And I am sure you know you can't just say, "well Auburn also dropped a game to LSU or Miss St."   When you have those heavy weights at the end,  you set up your game plans with those in mind.   This is why OU  wins 11 games every year - they play one or two challenging games - ONLY. 

Auburn will flourish if the schedules across the SEC were balanced in terms of difficulty.   I mean - we will challenge for 1st - 3rd annually.  I truly believe it.

I like rivalries and they would still be there - but I want championships more. 

 

Edited April 9, 2021 by Beaker

[McLoofus 35,182]

10 minutes ago, Beaker said:

And I am sure you know you can't just say, "well Auburn also dropped a game to LSU or Miss St."   When you have those heavy weights at the end,  you set up your game plans with those in mind.   This is why OU  wins 11 games every year - they play one or two challenging games - ONLY. 

I didn't used to buy into this but now I totally do. And it's not from being an Auburn fan. It's actually from just being a more well-rounded sports fan and seeing how certain realities affect all teams and athletes. So much of it is about a million other things besides actual talent and ability to win on any given day.

[Tiger Refuge 6,662]

40 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I didn't used to buy into this but now I totally do. And it's not from being an Auburn fan. It's actually from just being a more well-rounded sports fan and seeing how certain realities affect all teams and athletes. So much of it is about a million other things besides actual talent and ability to win on any given day.

Speaking of those million little things, some random sports talk show a while back was talking about how much the Dolphin’s doctor’s decision to not “clear” Drew Brees affected so many outcomes. If he end up in Miami, potentially no Saints SB, no Saban to Bama, etc. etc.

Conjecture? Yes.
 

Fun/painful thought? Of course.

/derail 

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 minute ago, Tiger Refuge said:

Speaking of those million little things, some random sports talk show a while back was talking about how much the Dolphin’s doctor’s decision to not “clear” Drew Brees affected so many outcomes. If he end up in Miami, potentially no Saints SB, no Saban to Bama, etc. etc.

Conjecture? Yes.

Fun/painful thought? Of course.

/derail 

Man, I LOVE the what if domino discussions. LOOOOOVE them. 

[DAG 33,977]

1 hour ago, Beaker said:

I hear the SEC is considering changing up our schedule rotation.  I just hope we ignore the rivalry crap and make it balanced for all.   We can play our rivals when we are supposed to.   This whole "but we have always played ---" (fill in the blank) has cost us several chances to have a perfect or near perfect season.  

And I am sure you know you can't just say, "well Auburn also dropped a game to LSU or Miss St."   When you have those heavy weights at the end,  you set up your game plans with those in mind.   This is why OU  wins 11 games every year - they play one or two challenging games - ONLY. 

Auburn will flourish if the schedules across the SEC were balanced in terms of difficulty.   I mean - we will challenge for 1st - 3rd annually.  I truly believe it.

 

 

You are one of the few people who advocate for this. I too agree with this and just would rather play more conference games and less to none permanent rivals. I consider everyone a rival in the SEC, but money drives a lot of that. 

[Win4AU 4,052]

1 minute ago, McLoofus said:

Man, I LOVE the what if domino discussions. LOOOOOVE them. 

Like what if Chiz doesn’t run off Barrett Trotter in 2012 and Auburn has a competent QB that season?  What if Sean White started in 15 and doesn’t get hurt in 16? What if Kerryon doesn’t get hurt in 17?  

[McLoofus 35,182]

3 minutes ago, Win4AU said:

Like what if Chiz doesn’t run off Barrett Trotter in 2012 and Auburn has a competent QB that season?  What if Sean White started in 15 and doesn’t get hurt in 16? What if Kerryon doesn’t get hurt in 17?  

I'm with you on the last 2. I'm not sure even Cam Newton makes that 2012 team special, though. That was the most completely, fundamentally flawed football team I've ever seen. (Among teams that actually had real live football players on them.) 

[1auburn1 1,110]

37 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Man, I LOVE the what if domino discussions. LOOOOOVE them. 

Or, What if Rich Rod’s wife didn’t hate Turdtown so much and he kept the job he had accepted?

[Hank2020 3,199]

3 hours ago, DAG said:

There is truly never more than 6 teams in any given season IMO who truly could win the natty. I think 8 would suffice though to give the little guys a fair chance to get In though. 

I think the bowls are blown up now. Not sure how they comeback. It’s all a TV game now so more the merrier IMO. It will be cross-conference games so interest will be there.  With injuries so prevalent you never know ( Tua at Al indicates that).

[Hank2020 3,199]

7 minutes ago, 1auburn1 said:

Or, What if Rich Rod’s wife didn’t hate Turdtown so much and he kept the job he had accepted?

But she did and he didn’t!!

[W.E.D 11,070]

3 hours ago, McLoofus said:

I just hope it never goes above 8 teams. 

Problem is D1 is just way too big with way too many teams. I'd love something similar to the NFL, except 8 regional divisions of 8 teams each, each division plays 7 divisional and 4 cross-divisional games, each division sends their champion to the playoffs. I just thought of this and have not spent more time than it took to type it thinking about how it would actually work. 

I don't think we're going to ever break up conferences, but I think we'll see something like 5 P5 conf winners plus a wild card team.  Top two get byes.

Hopefully this will encourage better OOC match-ups b/c a loss isn't going to kill you.  I'd also love to see some rules around 9 game conference season, 2 P5 opponents, & only 1 non P5 OOC game.  We want good football.  4 games a year that are massive blowouts vs Directional State U are pointless. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

12 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

But she did and he didn’t!!

I'm not sure if you're familiar with the game we're playing.

[Win4AU 4,052]

46 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I'm with you on the last 2. I'm not sure even Cam Newton makes that 2012 team special, though. That was the most completely, fundamentally flawed football team I've ever seen. (Among teams that actually had real live football players on them.) 

Not to mention all the off field stuff that came out.  Still crazy to look back and recall that Chiz was probably gonna keep his job until Georgia and Bama completely shut out Auburn.  Flip the close losses to Clemson, LSU, and Vandy and Auburn is 6-6.  Maybe even say Auburn beats Arkansas with Trotter.  That’s 7-5.  Chiz could recruit.  Maybe he gets a couple more seasons to recruit to a pro style offense and is able to compete with Bama and UGA in recruiting?Bunch of what if right there.  

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 minute ago, Win4AU said:

Not to mention all the off field stuff that came out.

Yeah. That stuff. Felt like borderline loss of institutional control and that's why I don't think there was an assistant coach or player alive who could have kept that ship afloat. I personally believe we were better off having him crash and burn as badly as he did so that there wasn't the long, drawn out suffocation of the program that we're currently recovering from. I think 2013 proves my theory and...

6 minutes ago, Win4AU said:

Still crazy to look back and recall that Chiz was probably gonna keep his job until Georgia and Bama completely shut out Auburn.  Flip the close losses to Clemson, LSU, and Vandy and Auburn is 6-6.  Maybe even say Auburn beats Arkansas with Trotter.  That’s 7-5.

...2017 proves yours. 

[AUwent 3,748]

5 hours ago, Win4AU said:

Like what if Chiz doesn’t run off Barrett Trotter in 2012 and Auburn has a competent QB that season?  What if Sean White started in 15 and doesn’t get hurt in 16? What if Kerryon doesn’t get hurt in 17?  

Again, I maintain that not choking in BR would've likely gotten us a playoff bid. We would've gotten murdered by Clemson but it would've been hella better than what actually happened.

[Hank2020 3,199]

6 hours ago, McLoofus said:

I'm not sure if you're familiar with the game we're playing.

I don’t think I ever keep up!!

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

On 4/8/2021 at 10:49 AM, Beaker said:

 

I don't always agree with Eagle Eye 7, but I do 100% this time:

Had Auburn throttled some teams like they were more than capable of doing, we could have matched OU earlier than the thUGA game and easily jumped them after the thUGA  game.  That Auburn team had as much talent or capability as any team ever assembled up to that point in history.  I truly believe it. 

Also at that time,  Tommy easily could have given the media some juicy sound bites to run with and created some buzz.   He NEVER did that until after the bama game.   That was a missed opportunity. 

Tubberville's ultra conservative nature and coaching prowess absolutely cost us a shot  vs  USC. 

Preseason polls really do hurt programs that are not 'blue bloods' and some programs like an OU can run the tables and never really be tested with even  2 or 3 challenging games in a season.   

I appreciate Tubs and what he accomplished for Auburn, but - 

Yes every game is important in the opinion game that CFB has become. If you want to be in the elite you can’t just barely escape Jacksonville state or lose to bad Vanderbilt or South Carolina teams. It takes style points against you. If your playing a small team crush them the first two quarters then let off and play younger guys. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 hour ago, Eagle Eye 7 said:

Yes every game is important in the opinion game that CFB has become. If you want to be in the elite you can’t just barely escape Jacksonville state or lose to bad Vanderbilt or South Carolina teams. It takes style points against you. If your playing a small team crush them the first two quarters then let off and play younger guys. 

We didn't barely escape any bad teams or fail to crush any small teams in 2004.

Our schedule and results were so superior to Oklahoma's by every measure it was ridiculous. We clearly dominated every team we played except top-10 LSU. Even though the bama score was close, the game wasn't. And I'm not sure OU even played a team as good as bama, much less an LSU, UT(K) or uga. 

Has anyone actually examined OU's schedule and results that season? It's crazy that everyone keeps saying Auburn was the team out of the two that failed to show style points during the regular season.

They were (Stoops was) a much sexier brand at the time and they started the season ranked at the top and they never lost. There was nothing we could have done. 

Now, if you want to talk about 2017, there's a conversation to be had. The LSU game is a no-brainer, and the Clemson game was winnable, too. Win both of those or maybe even just the LSU game and we still have a good chance to get into the playoff, even with the SECCG loss. 

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

On 4/29/2021 at 9:04 AM, McLoofus said:

We didn't barely escape any bad teams or fail to crush any small teams in 2004.

Our schedule and results were so superior to Oklahoma's by every measure it was ridiculous. We clearly dominated every team we played except top-10 LSU. Even though the bama score was close, the game wasn't. And I'm not sure OU even played a team as good as bama, much less an LSU, UT(K) or uga. 

Has anyone actually examined OU's schedule and results that season? It's crazy that everyone keeps saying Auburn was the team out of the two that failed to show style points during the regular season.

They were (Stoops was) a much sexier brand at the time and they started the season ranked at the top and they never lost. There was nothing we could have done. 

Now, if you want to talk about 2017, there's a conversation to be had. The LSU game is a no-brainer, and the Clemson game was winnable, too. Win both of those or maybe even just the LSU game and we still have a good chance to get into the playoff, even with the SECCG loss. 

Was not 2004 that killed us it was the 2003 performance. That is why Okie was #2 to start and why no one wanted an AU and SoCal repeat after SoCal had just won two straight from us. When you start showing up for every game every year you start getting an advantage with the polls. That’s why bama gets a buy now each year because they have showed up for the last decade. Nope,  Tubberville was to busy messing with the administration to ever recruit or coach. He just showed up and got what he got and that was fine with him. You don’t just have to look at his AU record you can see it throughout his entire resume . I don’t think he ever improved his players

Edited May 2, 2021 by Eagle Eye 7

[McLoofus 35,182]

50 minutes ago, Eagle Eye 7 said:

When you start showing up for every game every year you start getting an advantage with the polls.

Choir, here. Keep preaching. 

[SLAG-91 1,483]

10 hours ago, Eagle Eye 7 said:

Was not 2004 that killed us it was the 2003 performance.

1000% correct. The '04 team paid for the underachieving '03 team that started off in the top 10 and laid not one but two eggs to start that season, and finished 8-5.

Also bad luck that preseason top two didn't lose during the season at some point...can't remember off the top of my head another time when that happened.

The '04 team couldn't have done anything else...won four games against teams with 10 wins, and should have been five (LSU coughed up a hail Mary to lose to Iowa, or they would have been 10-2).

They deserved their shot, and didn't get it. That team and the 1983 team got done dirt polls-wise.

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

I will say this the 2004 AU team overall was one of the best ever. 3 drafted in the top 10 or 12 and another first rounder also. So no doubt they were more than capable of beating USC had they gotten the chance. Sad that they didn’t .