2014 Schedule

[war3ag13 15]

I am not sure we will go undefeated this year. But, I think if we get to the SEC championship game (which we definitely can), we will have a great shot of making the 4 team playoff. I hope we go undefeated; I think we can. I just think that it isn't too likely.

Unless they have 2 losses, the SEC champion is almost guaranteed a spot in the playoff. Depending on how many 1-loss teams there are and who they've played, a 2-loss SEC champ would have a decent shot at making the playoff. If you have two or more 1-loss SEC teams, odds are there will be a second SEC team in the playoff.

Agree with you that undefeated is a hard row to hoe this year. We definitely have the talent to make that happen, but will need a few bounces to go our way again. It will be fun to watch.

Agreed. I will be confident about every game we play. The tough thing is, that you can be really, really good and still have things go wrong.

[Best5zach 2]

This year's schedule ain't no joke.

[WarEagle84 0]

Here's my shot at analysis/prediction:

Arkansas -- Blowout win. I don't see them slowing down our offense. Will be cast as a big statement game by the media. 56-23

San Jose State -- Cupcake #1. 60-14

@Kansas State -- Road game against a worthy opponent. They keep it close the first half, but can't keep up late. 45-28

La Tech -- Cupcake #2. 70-10

LSU -- Our first losable game IMO. New QB (Harris or Jennings) should be getting his legs under him by this point, will present a challenge. Gus outwits The Hat with a late trick play. 35-31

@Miss ST -- They will be a good team this year, but I don't see them on the same talent level as AU. Another close first half, only to pull away in the 4th. 42-27

S. Carolina -- Replacing Connor Shaw will be tougher than some expect. 31-13

@Ole Miss -- Bo Wallace shows continued improvement, keeps this one fairly close. 35-27

TX A&M -- No Manziel. No Evans. No Matthews. No defense. No problem. 52-30

@UGA -- Another losable game. Moncrief intercepts a Mason pass in the end zone to preserve the victory. 31-27

Samford -- Cupcake #3 (with apologies to Kodi Burns). 66-16

@Alabama -- Unless Coker is a complete dud or injured, this will be a tough one. They will have revenge on their mind and be as motivated as they have ever been. Nick leads a late game-winning drive. 34-31

Best Case 12-0; Worst Case 9-3.

[CJBas 4]

Everybody says the schedule is tough but it's the same as every other year. Ok, GA and bama on the road. Well last year we had LSU and A&M on the road, arguably two tougher places to play than Athens and turdtown. SC replaces Tenn, that's a bit harder. K State rather than Wash St...same.

The Miss teams a re always 'under rated and up and coming' and almost always we beat them no matter where we play.

Yes it is a tough schedule, but no tougher than every other year. No tougher than last year.

This years schedule is way tougher than last year IMO.

Breakdown time!!!.

2014 2013

Arkansas Wash ST

San Jose ST. Ark ST.

@Kansas ST

La Tech Miss ST

LSU @LSU

@Miss ST Ol miss

So. Car West Carolina

@Ol Miss @TX A&M

TX A&M FL Atlantic

@UGA @Arky

Samford @Tenn

@bama UGA

bama

Sorry for the poor format above. Missed the dang LA Tech game and don't want to go back and retype it all. But onto the meat and potatoes of my post...

Comparable games:

Wash ST. vs Kansas ST - Kansas St. in a land slide. We play KSU away and on a Thursday night game. We beat arky to open the season we'll be top ten and Manhatten will be rocking on Thursday night. Not to mention KSU finished last year extremely strong and return a bunch of players. Bill Snyder is a heck of a coach and they will be ready to play.

San Jose ST vs Arky ST. - I'm just going to call this a push. Were i too look deeper i'd expect to find San Jose ST to be a bit tougher of a game. But arky st. looked awfully scary coming in to AU last year so they had some pretty good hype

La Tech vs Fl atlantic - Edge to La Tech by a good bit. They won 8-9 games last year but we should handle them.

Samford vs Western Carolina - push....

Tenn 13 vs So. Car 14 - Slight edge to So Car 14. We had to travel to Tenn last year but i say So Car is a good bit better than Tenn. Plus we are the only SEC team that Spurrier has yet to beat since being at So Car (I love this fact!) So don't be surprised if we are circled on their calenders. They'll be replacing some talent though so South Carolina will be a bit of a wild card early in the season.

Arky 14 vs Arky 13 - Tough call because we get them at home this year, but i give the edge to arky 14 being the tougher game. First game of the season and they're second year in Berts system which means they should be some help them out. They played some good ball at the end of last year so i'm curious to see if that carries over to this year.

Miss ST 14 vs Mss St 13 - Miss ST 14 by a landslide. Its away and they bring back a lot of players. They also bring back a QB that shredded our defense last year. Hopefully we'll be better this year knowing what is coming, but regardless they'll be better this year than last.

LSU 14 vs LSU13 - LSU 13 was much tougher IMO. We get them at home this year and they are breaking in a new QB.

Ol Miss 14 vs. Ol Miss 13 - Ol Miss 14 will be much tougher. We play at their place and they are returning a bunch of players. They will be breaking in a new QB though so that will help us out.

TX A&M 14 vs TX A&M 13 - The 14 contest will be much easier than the 13 contest. They lose a LOT from last years team and we get them at home. Would love to get a little payback for the whipping they put on us last time we hosted them!

UGA 14 vs UGA 13 - Hard call really. They lose Aaron Murray but we have to play at their house. But the home vs away thing doesn't hold much water in this series. You would think they're defense would have to be better than last year but first year in a new scheme may give them problems. Coin flip IMO as to which matchup would be tougher.

bama 14 vs bama 13 - I'm going to go slightly out on a limb and say this bama team will be weaker than last years. They'll have to break in a new QB and will be replacing several key members of the defense. Yeah they have good players coming in but losing experience always hurts. Plus we own them in T-town! They will be good no doubt but not as good as last year.

So the games themselves will be tougher in 14 than in 13 but also look at how the schedule lines up. Last year the schedule set up well where we always got a break between tough games. Either due to an open date or a weaker opponent. In 14 we play South Carolina, Ol Miss, TX A&M, and UGA in consecutive weeks late in the season. How well our guys hold up from game to game during that gaunlet will greatly determine how each game goes. We are still thin at key positions on D so if players start going down that could be a problem with no time to get them healthy again.

San Jose St / Ark St Cupcake / cupcake. What difference does it make which is better? Same with the other cupcake comparisons.

LSU 13 / LSU 14. Probably LSU 13 was better since they had a proven QB and we play them early again. Still a tough game but Auburn usually fares better against them in Auburn than on the road.

Miss St 14 / 13. Maybe 14 but again, the difference between where Auburn should be in 14 and where Miss St should be in 14 is huge. Auburn was, let's be honest, not very good at all when they played Miss St last year and still won. Auburn should be LOT better when they play Miss St this year than when they played them last year. Miss St a little better. Auburn almost always wins against these people, same with Ole Miss.

Auburn ALWAYS should beat both those teams. Auburn shouldn't always beat them but Auburn always should beat them. (Note the difference.)

Ark not much better than in 13.

SC is a step up from Tenn in 13 but it's a home game. It will be more difficult.

A&M probably a fall off but they could surprise some people. Their line is more experienced than last year and without hot stuff they may actually play better as a team. We'll see. Still probably not as tough as last year.

K St on the road will be tougher than Wash St at home. But gain, Auburn should be a world better when they play K State than when they played Wast St. A reasonable opponent but still should be a going away win for Auburn.

GA, a bit of a fall off from 13. Playing in Athens has, historically, done better than even there.

bama should experience some fall off but should be good by late season. Still I think Auburn should win. It's ALWAYS a tough game, just as is GA. Doesn't matter where it is played.

Tough schedule? Definitely. But no tougher, maybe not even as tough, as 13 was. Some people say Auburn won't sneak up on anyone this year but the fact is that people were gunning for Auburn last year. Early in the season it was sharks smelling blood and hoping for a win over Auburn for a feather in their caps. By mid season anyone overlooking Auburn was a blooming idiot. People will be gunning for Auburn this year too, they always are. bama will want revenge...tough. That rarely plays any real part in any football game unless someone is running up a score, and that's not likely to be happening this year.

[Auburn4life 24]

Ole Miss has 32 seniors last year. I don't care how recruiting has been that hurts your depth. Ole Miss will not be that good this year.

[BJ17 0]

Here's my shot at analysis/prediction:

Arkansas -- Blowout win. I don't see them slowing down our offense. Will be cast as a big statement game by the media. 56-23

San Jose State -- Cupcake #1. 60-14

@Kansas State -- Road game against a worthy opponent. They keep it close the first half, but can't keep up late. 45-28

La Tech -- Cupcake #2. 70-10

LSU -- Our first losable game IMO. New QB (Harris or Jennings) should be getting his legs under him by this point, will present a challenge. Gus outwits The Hat with a late trick play. 35-31

@Miss ST -- They will be a good team this year, but I don't see them on the same talent level as AU. Another close first half, only to pull away in the 4th. 42-27

S. Carolina -- Replacing Connor Shaw will be tougher than some expect. 31-13

@Ole Miss -- Bo Wallace shows continued improvement, keeps this one fairly close. 35-27

TX A&M -- No Manziel. No Evans. No Matthews. No defense. No problem. 52-30

@UGA -- Another losable game. Moncrief intercepts a Mason pass in the end zone to preserve the victory. 31-27

Samford -- Cupcake #3 (with apologies to Kodi Burns). 66-16

@Alabama -- Unless Coker is a complete dud or injured, this will be a tough one. They will have revenge on their mind and be as motivated as they have ever been. Nick leads a late game-winning drive. 34-31

Best Case 12-0; Worst Case 9-3.

This would mean AU scores 557 (46.4 ppg) and gives up 277 (23.1 ppg) in regular season alone. If you were to inflate this to 15 games, it would be AU scoring 696 points which not only be a school record but an SEC record breaking Florida's 2008 team of 611 through 14 games (43.6 ppg) and coincidentally their 1996 team that also scored 611 through 13 games (47 ppg). Wouldn't that be something. Defense well that is a different story. 23.1 ppg through 15 games would inflate to 347 points allowed which would be 1 more than last year with just 14 games. AU game up 270 points in regular season last year. All this meaning that defense would not have improved much at all. I say in order for a perfect 15-0 (keyword perfect) season AU gives up less than 240 points which would be under 16 ppg.

[C'viewTiger 242]

Here's my shot at analysis/prediction:

Arkansas -- Blowout win. I don't see them slowing down our offense. Will be cast as a big statement game by the media. 56-23

San Jose State -- Cupcake #1. 60-14

@Kansas State -- Road game against a worthy opponent. They keep it close the first half, but can't keep up late. 45-28

La Tech -- Cupcake #2. 70-10

LSU -- Our first losable game IMO. New QB (Harris or Jennings) should be getting his legs under him by this point, will present a challenge. Gus outwits The Hat with a late trick play. 35-31

@Miss ST -- They will be a good team this year, but I don't see them on the same talent level as AU. Another close first half, only to pull away in the 4th. 42-27

S. Carolina -- Replacing Connor Shaw will be tougher than some expect. 31-13

@Ole Miss -- Bo Wallace shows continued improvement, keeps this one fairly close. 35-27

TX A&M -- No Manziel. No Evans. No Matthews. No defense. No problem. 52-30

@UGA -- Another losable game. Moncrief intercepts a Mason pass in the end zone to preserve the victory. 31-27

Samford -- Cupcake #3 (with apologies to Kodi Burns). 66-16

@Alabama -- Unless Coker is a complete dud or injured, this will be a tough one. They will have revenge on their mind and be as motivated as they have ever been. Nick leads a late game-winning drive. 34-31

Best Case 12-0; Worst Case 9-3.

This would mean AU scores 557 (46.4 ppg) and gives up 277 (23.1 ppg) in regular season alone. If you were to inflate this to 15 games, it would be AU scoring 696 points which not only be a school record but an SEC record breaking Florida's 2008 team of 611 through 14 games (43.6 ppg) and coincidentally their 1996 team that also scored 611 through 13 games (47 ppg). Wouldn't that be something. Defense well that is a different story. 23.1 ppg through 15 games would inflate to 347 points allowed which would be 1 more than last year with just 14 games. AU game up 270 points in regular season last year. All this meaning that defense would not have improved much at all. I say in order for a perfect 15-0 (keyword perfect) season AU gives up less than 240 points which would be under 16 ppg.

I'll play Captain Obvious. We will need our D to step up and create a couple of shutouts to average 16 ppg with the schedule we have this year. Will definitely be fun to watch if (when) this happens.

[hutchids 227]

Here's my shot at analysis/prediction:

Arkansas -- Blowout win. I don't see them slowing down our offense. Will be cast as a big statement game by the media. 56-23

San Jose State -- Cupcake #1. 60-14

@Kansas State -- Road game against a worthy opponent. They keep it close the first half, but can't keep up late. 45-28

La Tech -- Cupcake #2. 70-10

LSU -- Our first losable game IMO. New QB (Harris or Jennings) should be getting his legs under him by this point, will present a challenge. Gus outwits The Hat with a late trick play. 35-31

@Miss ST -- They will be a good team this year, but I don't see them on the same talent level as AU. Another close first half, only to pull away in the 4th. 42-27

S. Carolina -- Replacing Connor Shaw will be tougher than some expect. 31-13

@Ole Miss -- Bo Wallace shows continued improvement, keeps this one fairly close. 35-27

TX A&M -- No Manziel. No Evans. No Matthews. No defense. No problem. 52-30

@UGA -- Another losable game. Moncrief intercepts a Mason pass in the end zone to preserve the victory. 31-27

Samford -- Cupcake #3 (with apologies to Kodi Burns). 66-16

@Alabama -- Unless Coker is a complete dud or injured, this will be a tough one. They will have revenge on their mind and be as motivated as they have ever been. Nick leads a late game-winning drive. 34-31

Best Case 12-0; Worst Case 9-3.

I'd say you are spot on for best and worst cases. I think connor shaw was the most underrated player in the nation last year. With USCe losing him, I'm not worried about them at all now. However, that is why I'm worried about ole miss. Bo wallace has the potential to be connor shaw. However, their stupid coach always takes him out for the wildcat, black qb (I forget his name). That is what held ole miss back, and cost them the MSU game. If they play bo all game, it will be close if he lives up to his potential.

BTW, am I the only one who thinks Georgia will have a tough year? With what they lost, I'm not too concerned about them.

[BJ17 0]

Here's my shot at analysis/prediction:

Arkansas -- Blowout win. I don't see them slowing down our offense. Will be cast as a big statement game by the media. 56-23

San Jose State -- Cupcake #1. 60-14

@Kansas State -- Road game against a worthy opponent. They keep it close the first half, but can't keep up late. 45-28

La Tech -- Cupcake #2. 70-10

LSU -- Our first losable game IMO. New QB (Harris or Jennings) should be getting his legs under him by this point, will present a challenge. Gus outwits The Hat with a late trick play. 35-31

@Miss ST -- They will be a good team this year, but I don't see them on the same talent level as AU. Another close first half, only to pull away in the 4th. 42-27

S. Carolina -- Replacing Connor Shaw will be tougher than some expect. 31-13

@Ole Miss -- Bo Wallace shows continued improvement, keeps this one fairly close. 35-27

TX A&M -- No Manziel. No Evans. No Matthews. No defense. No problem. 52-30

@UGA -- Another losable game. Moncrief intercepts a Mason pass in the end zone to preserve the victory. 31-27

Samford -- Cupcake #3 (with apologies to Kodi Burns). 66-16

@Alabama -- Unless Coker is a complete dud or injured, this will be a tough one. They will have revenge on their mind and be as motivated as they have ever been. Nick leads a late game-winning drive. 34-31

Best Case 12-0; Worst Case 9-3.

I'd say you are spot on for best and worst cases. I think connor shaw was the most underrated player in the nation last year. With USCe losing him, I'm not worried about them at all now. However, that is why I'm worried about ole miss. Bo wallace has the potential to be connor shaw. However, their stupid coach always takes him out for the wildcat, black qb (I forget his name). That is what held ole miss back, and cost them the MSU game. If they play bo all game, it will be close if he lives up to his potential.

BTW, am I the only one who thinks Georgia will have a tough year? With what they lost, I'm not too concerned about them.

Bro Wallace is a total hit or miss player. For every great play he makes, he also make a bonehead one as well.

I think UGA may be tougher than what people are giving them credit for. They always recruit well. Mark Richt just always does less with more. Todd Gurley, Keith Marshall, and Malcom Mitchell are going to be major weapons on offense. Also they hired Jemery Pruitt as their DC who was FSU's last year. If their new QB can be half of what Murray was they'll be dangerous again.

[Dom1ni0n 51]

Ole Miss has 32 seniors last year. I don't care how recruiting has been that hurts your depth. Ole Miss will not be that good this year.

Speaking of whom, they weren't that good last year, and that was with Moncrief and Treadwell in their WR corps. Unsure as to why there is any sense of trepidation about Ole Miss outside of the 2012 season.

Okay, so they will bounce back to the Compass Bowl.

They don't have a proven rushing threat at tailback since their burner Jeff Scott is gone, which puts more burden on Wallace to tote it and sling it--not to mention a few new faces up front trying to open lanes plus protect. Wallace also isn't consistent as a passer.

Their starting defensive front seven should be fairly decent. However as you state, replacing that many seniors is no small task. Especially for typically underwhelming Ole Miss.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,673]

"Auburn ALWAYS should beat both those teams. Auburn shouldn't always beat them but Auburn always should beat them. (Note the difference.)"

What?

[WarEagle84 0]

This would mean AU scores 557 (46.4 ppg) and gives up 277 (23.1 ppg) in regular season alone. If you were to inflate this to 15 games, it would be AU scoring 696 points which not only be a school record but an SEC record breaking Florida's 2008 team of 611 through 14 games (43.6 ppg) and coincidentally their 1996 team that also scored 611 through 13 games (47 ppg). Wouldn't that be something. Defense well that is a different story. 23.1 ppg through 15 games would inflate to 347 points allowed which would be 1 more than last year with just 14 games. AU game up 270 points in regular season last year. All this meaning that defense would not have improved much at all. I say in order for a perfect 15-0 (keyword perfect) season AU gives up less than 240 points which would be under 16 ppg.

I wasn't thinking much about season totals when I did that, but I have no problem standing by my prediction of a record-setting offense. I may have even been a little too conservative.

I think the defense will be better than last year, but I'm not sure how much better. I would like to see us keep it to an average of 20 ppg or less.

[AUbritt 611]

ESPN thinks we have the third toughest schedule (of SEC teams) next season.

The way the Tigers start the season with Arkansas and San Jose State at home isn’t going to knock your socks off. But playing Kansas State on its home turf isn’t something many SEC schools would even consider. If Gus Malzahn hopes to reach the SEC title game again, not only will he have to go through a Louisiana Tech team that won nine games two seasons ago, but he’ll also have to face South Carolina, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Georgia and Alabama in the final six weeks of the regular season.

Guess who they think has the second easiest schedule?

[gravejd 3,270]

Everybody says the schedule is tough but it's the same as every other year. Ok, GA and bama on the road. Well last year we had LSU and A&M on the road, arguably two tougher places to play than Athens and turdtown. SC replaces Tenn, that's a bit harder. K State rather than Wash St...same.

The Miss teams a re always 'under rated and up and coming' and almost always we beat them no matter where we play.

Yes it is a tough schedule, but no tougher than every other year. No tougher than last year.

This years schedule is way tougher than last year IMO.

Breakdown time!!!.

2014 2013

Arkansas Wash ST

San Jose ST. Ark ST.

@Kansas ST

La Tech Miss ST

LSU @LSU

@Miss ST Ol miss

So. Car West Carolina

@Ol Miss @TX A&M

TX A&M FL Atlantic

@UGA @Arky

Samford @Tenn

@bama UGA

bama

Sorry for the poor format above. Missed the dang LA Tech game and don't want to go back and retype it all. But onto the meat and potatoes of my post...

Comparable games:

Wash ST. vs Kansas ST - Kansas St. in a land slide. We play KSU away and on a Thursday night game. We beat arky to open the season we'll be top ten and Manhatten will be rocking on Thursday night. Not to mention KSU finished last year extremely strong and return a bunch of players. Bill Snyder is a heck of a coach and they will be ready to play.

San Jose ST vs Arky ST. - I'm just going to call this a push. Were i too look deeper i'd expect to find San Jose ST to be a bit tougher of a game. But arky st. looked awfully scary coming in to AU last year so they had some pretty good hype

La Tech vs Fl atlantic - Edge to La Tech by a good bit. They won 8-9 games last year but we should handle them.

Samford vs Western Carolina - push....

Tenn 13 vs So. Car 14 - Slight edge to So Car 14. We had to travel to Tenn last year but i say So Car is a good bit better than Tenn. Plus we are the only SEC team that Spurrier has yet to beat since being at So Car (I love this fact!) So don't be surprised if we are circled on their calenders. They'll be replacing some talent though so South Carolina will be a bit of a wild card early in the season.

Arky 14 vs Arky 13 - Tough call because we get them at home this year, but i give the edge to arky 14 being the tougher game. First game of the season and they're second year in Berts system which means they should be some help them out. They played some good ball at the end of last year so i'm curious to see if that carries over to this year.

Miss ST 14 vs Mss St 13 - Miss ST 14 by a landslide. Its away and they bring back a lot of players. They also bring back a QB that shredded our defense last year. Hopefully we'll be better this year knowing what is coming, but regardless they'll be better this year than last.

LSU 14 vs LSU13 - LSU 13 was much tougher IMO. We get them at home this year and they are breaking in a new QB.

Ol Miss 14 vs. Ol Miss 13 - Ol Miss 14 will be much tougher. We play at their place and they are returning a bunch of players. They will be breaking in a new QB though so that will help us out.

TX A&M 14 vs TX A&M 13 - The 14 contest will be much easier than the 13 contest. They lose a LOT from last years team and we get them at home. Would love to get a little payback for the whipping they put on us last time we hosted them!

UGA 14 vs UGA 13 - Hard call really. They lose Aaron Murray but we have to play at their house. But the home vs away thing doesn't hold much water in this series. You would think they're defense would have to be better than last year but first year in a new scheme may give them problems. Coin flip IMO as to which matchup would be tougher.

bama 14 vs bama 13 - I'm going to go slightly out on a limb and say this bama team will be weaker than last years. They'll have to break in a new QB and will be replacing several key members of the defense. Yeah they have good players coming in but losing experience always hurts. Plus we own them in T-town! They will be good no doubt but not as good as last year.

So the games themselves will be tougher in 14 than in 13 but also look at how the schedule lines up. Last year the schedule set up well where we always got a break between tough games. Either due to an open date or a weaker opponent. In 14 we play South Carolina, Ol Miss, TX A&M, and UGA in consecutive weeks late in the season. How well our guys hold up from game to game during that gaunlet will greatly determine how each game goes. We are still thin at key positions on D so if players start going down that could be a problem with no time to get them healthy again.

San Jose St / Ark St Cupcake / cupcake. What difference does it make which is better? Same with the other cupcake comparisons.

LSU 13 / LSU 14. Probably LSU 13 was better since they had a proven QB and we play them early again. Still a tough game but Auburn usually fares better against them in Auburn than on the road.

Miss St 14 / 13. Maybe 14 but again, the difference between where Auburn should be in 14 and where Miss St should be in 14 is huge. Auburn was, let's be honest, not very good at all when they played Miss St last year and still won. Auburn should be LOT better when they play Miss St this year than when they played them last year. Miss St a little better. Auburn almost always wins against these people, same with Ole Miss.

Auburn ALWAYS should beat both those teams. Auburn shouldn't always beat them but Auburn always should beat them. (Note the difference.)

Ark not much better than in 13.

SC is a step up from Tenn in 13 but it's a home game. It will be more difficult.

A&M probably a fall off but they could surprise some people. Their line is more experienced than last year and without hot stuff they may actually play better as a team. We'll see. Still probably not as tough as last year.

K St on the road will be tougher than Wash St at home. But gain, Auburn should be a world better when they play K State than when they played Wast St. A reasonable opponent but still should be a going away win for Auburn.

GA, a bit of a fall off from 13. Playing in Athens has, historically, done better than even there.

bama should experience some fall off but should be good by late season. Still I think Auburn should win. It's ALWAYS a tough game, just as is GA. Doesn't matter where it is played.

Tough schedule? Definitely. But no tougher, maybe not even as tough, as 13 was. Some people say Auburn won't sneak up on anyone this year but the fact is that people were gunning for Auburn last year. Early in the season it was sharks smelling blood and hoping for a win over Auburn for a feather in their caps. By mid season anyone overlooking Auburn was a blooming idiot. People will be gunning for Auburn this year too, they always are. bama will want revenge...tough. That rarely plays any real part in any football game unless someone is running up a score, and that's not likely to be happening this year.

Well you seem to agree with most of my post but reach a different conclusion. I was trying to just look at the other team and not consider that AU will be better. To me the quality of AU has no bearing on how tough our schedule is. For example AU is better than say Tulane and Tenn. So we should beat both, but that does not make the games equal in terms of strength of schedule. Hope that makes sense.

All cup cakes are not created equal....see Utah State!

I guess it comes down to I think K State, Ol Miss, Miss ST, Arky, and South Car will be tougher games next year.

I see A&M as being easier and maybe UGA since they lost Murray (their D could be much better). All the rest of the games are pretty much a push.

Add that to the way the schedule falls this year with all the tough games in a row at the end and I think that means a tougher schedule this year than last.

[Dixie1860 27]

15-0, SEC and Notional Titles. Nick wins Heisman and is 1st round pick. Duke is picked #1 overall.

[Tiger 8,827]

^^ I wouldn't be mad at that!

[AUwent 3,754]

ESPN thinks we have the third toughest schedule (of SEC teams) next season.

The way the Tigers start the season with Arkansas and San Jose State at home isn’t going to knock your socks off. But playing Kansas State on its home turf isn’t something many SEC schools would even consider. If Gus Malzahn hopes to reach the SEC title game again, not only will he have to go through a Louisiana Tech team that won nine games two seasons ago, but he’ll also have to face South Carolina, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Georgia and Alabama in the final six weeks of the regular season.

Guess who they think has the second easiest schedule?

…and won 4 games last year. :-\

I still have us at 9-3 and a win against some Big Ten team (I'll say tOSU) in the Capital One Bowl. Sounds pessimistic, but I'd say a 22-5 record in the two years after a 3-9 season is pretty darn good.

[CJBas 4]

Well you seem to agree with most of my post but reach a different conclusion. I was trying to just look at the other team and not consider that AU will be better. To me the quality of AU has no bearing on how tough our schedule is. For example AU is better than say Tulane and Tenn. So we should beat both, but that does not make the games equal in terms of strength of schedule. Hope that makes sense.

All cup cakes are not created equal....see Utah State!

I guess it comes down to I think K State, Ol Miss, Miss ST, Arky, and South Car will be tougher games next year.

I see A&M as being easier and maybe UGA since they lost Murray (their D could be much better). All the rest of the games are pretty much a push.

Add that to the way the schedule falls this year with all the tough games in a row at the end and I think that means a tougher schedule this year than last.

I can buy into everything you say. My only poin was that last year was a tough schedule too, especially considering where Auburn started from. Also, I know Miss St is often a tough game, but like I said Auburn really was not very good when they beat Miss St last year. Taht winning drive was really the first time in the season they had put together more than 2 or 3 good plays back to back. Had we played them in Nov we'd have beaten them a lot worse. And I think this is Mullens' last chance there. that may mean we'd be facing a desperate team. That may bean we'll be facing a team going down for the count. Hard to predict from where we stand now.

As for GA, the more I think about it the more I think they mae indeed be tougher this year than last. They've got most of their key players, minus Murray, coming back. And they do usually play their best game against Auburn. They often blow an early game, but rarely blow one late.

So definitely a tough schedule. And you're right that we do have several tough games back to back whereas we did get a break in that last year.

I know Auburn will have to be ready for K St and SC. They'll both be ready for Auburn. But I think Auburn should win them both going away. Ark...I'm really not expecting much out of them. And I don't think LSU will be as good as last year. bama will be good but I doubt as good as last year.

As for best/worst cases; I'd agree with your 12-0 to 9-3. I do think Auburn should be mbetter prepared for the tough schedule this year than they were last year.

As with all of my other predictions...I could always be wrong.

Here's hoping for the best.

[hutchids 227]

Miss State would be stupid to fire Mullen, regardless of his record this year. He's the best coach they've had in how long. They haven't had a coach leave miss state with a winning record since like 1960's.

[WarTiger 3,909]

Miss State would be stupid to fire Mullen, regardless of his record this year. He's the best coach they've had in how long. They haven't had a coach leave miss state with a winning record since like 1960's.

Actually you have to go back further than that. The last coach to leave Mississippi State with an overall winning record was Darrell Royal from 1954-1955 at 12-8 for those 2 years. Jackie Sherrill was close being right at 500 with a record of 75-75-2 over his 13 years there.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

I read that Auburn & Arkansas State will be playing one another again in 2016.

[augolf1716 21,203]

I read that Auburn & Arkansas State will be playing one another again in 2016.

Link?

[AUbritt 611]

Link?

I read that Auburn & Arkansas State will be playing one another again in 2016.

Link?

LINK

[Randman5000 4,229]

Looks like we were correct...ESPN ranked us as having the hardest schedule next year.

insider info to read whole article.

http://insider.espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/11254015/teams-hurt-most-strength-schedule-2014-college-football

[WarEagle84 0]

Looks like we were correct...ESPN ranked us as having the hardest schedule next year.

insider info to read whole article.

http://insider.espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/11254015/teams-hurt-most-strength-schedule-2014-college-football

They had Utah ranked toughest and AU 2nd on CFB Live yesterday. Of course, those are based on preseason expectations, and will certainly change once they start playing games.