Very good letter to the Press.

[DKW 86 7,438]

The letter below was sent to a sportswriter in New Orleans who has been voting against Auburn in the Associated Press poll. It's probably the most objective, solid, fact based defense of Auburn's position that I've seen. It was forwarded today. Don't know who wrote it initially and sent it to the sportswriter, but he did a great job.

Mr. Lewis,

By now, I'm sure you are aware you have been widely quoted in  Southeastern newspapers and internet sites as being unimpressed with Auburn due to its first half performance against Alabama (rivalry game or not). I understand that it is difficult to watch or keep up with all that goes on with the top three teams. So, in the spirit of "an informed voter is a good thing", I would like to offer the following bits of distilled information for your consideration in your final vote this Sunday.

To address your concern of Auburn being behind 6-0 at the half, I offer the following: before being unimpressed with Auburn based on one half of football, should you also not consider the half time performances of OU and USC?

OU vs Texas A&M: OU DOWN by 7 at the half

OU vs OSU: OU up by 7 at the half

OU vs K State: OU up by 3 at the half

OU vs Kansas: OU up by 4 at the half

USC vs Stanford: USC DOWN by 11 at the half

USC vs V Tech: USC DOWN by 10 at the half

USC vs Oregon St: USC DOWN by 6 at the half

USC vs Cal: USC up by 6 at the half

Of course it is only fair to list the other game Auburn has trailed at the half (that's right there is only one other) - LSU. That was only Auburn's 3rd game of the season, under a completely new Offensive Coordinator and before Auburn's new offense had "gelled". It is important to also mention that Alabama has the 2nd ranked Defense in the nation and yet Auburn was able to make its adjustments and drive the length of the field 4 consecutive times - once at the end of the 1st half for a missed FG and 3 times in the 2nd half for TDs. Auburn then proceeded to run out the clock (and not run up the score)for thefourth quarter. In fact, Auburn has made a habit of running out the clock in 10 of its 11 wins (LSU excluded). Isn't this what National  Championship teams do? Can that really be said of USC and OU? How many of those games in which USC and OU struggled for the first half (or the whole game for that matter) were against "defensive juggernauts"?  Need I point out that on that same Saturday OU was only up on "mighty" Baylor by 7 with 30 seconds left in the half? Not a very impressive half.

I am confused by your suggestion that Alabama should have been up by more "if they had an offense". Perhaps they had no offense because of Auburn's defense. You may be unaware that Auburn has the leading scoring defense in the nation and has allowed only 1 rushing touchdown the entire season. Auburn held Alabama to only 50 net rushing yards (they average over 200). By the way, Auburn did the same to LSU, UGA, TN and every other team it has faced - repeatedly denying them in the red-zone. Think about that - only one rushing touchdown all regular season and only 108 total points allowed. Has there every been a National Champion that could say that? Isn't that what National Championship teams are built on - great defense? Can that really be said of USC or OU?

Of course, many voters (and computers) have made much ado of Auburn's "weak" schedule or rather its "weak out of conference" schedule. But isn't that really much ado about nothing? So Auburn played Louisiana Monroe, The Citadel and La Tech. Surely no voter is suggesting that Auburn would have lost to Bowling Green (who bought out of its contract with Auburn at the last minute to play OU) or Tulsa or Eastern Michigan or any other team below the top 25? I am certain you would agree that it should not be about the worst teams you beat on your schedule but about the best teams that you beat. Here are a few numbers about strong competition:

9 win teams Defeated:

Auburn: 3

OU: 1

USC: 2

9 win teams Defeated on the Road:

Auburn: 1

OU: 0

USC: 0

Top 15 BCS teams defeated

Auburn: 3 (4 if they beat UT again)

OU: 1

USC: 1

Isn't that what National Champions do - win against strong competition? They don't prove their worthiness by beating up on out manned teams or middle of the pack teams. An offense that is balanced with multiple weapons and wins going away 10 out of 11 times. A defense that is stifling, tough minded and can make you one dimensional no matter what your strength is. Season long, superior performance against every strong opponent it faces. Isn't that what National Champions do?

These three things can only be said of one team this year - AUBURN.

That's why Auburn deserves your vote to play in the National Championship Game.

War Eagle!

[No Shame 0]

for cryin' out loud....somebody do something!!! this can't happen! can it?

[PCAuburnRunner 0]

ive being thinking the same thing this whole time

[AuNuma1 1]

Dude, it's already happened. We're getting screwed out of votes because of the preseason polls. If they won't give us a playoff system, they need to trash the preseason polls because last year was last year and it shouldn't carry as much weight as it currently is.

Sucks but we'll live. WAR DAMN BRUIN! WAR DAMN BUFF!

[Auburn910 0]

What week should we take the preseason poll? Pick anyweek, i bet you money USC and OU would still be above Auburn, and Auburn would have never jumped. Blah to the preseason polls and double blah to folks that think a midseason start time for a poll would make one second of difference. prove it would, provide some evidence, i am interested to know and understand the thinking behind this, other than "you see all teams play, you dont feel obligated to keep a team #1 until they lose, etc etc, USC would still have been #1 in a midseason poll.

[Ryan Sanders 123]

Williams and Brown both return for their senior year when they could have went on and played for money, and they go undefeated but do not get a chance at the National Championship... wow. I feel bad for them.

[AUTaxMan 0]

It's like arguing with my mom. No matter what proof you have to support you position, she just doesn't want to listen.

[AuNuma1 1]

prove it would, provide some evidence, i am interested to know and understand the thinking behind this...

I don't mind taking a stab at it...let the first poll come out after the first Saturday in Oct. So for this year it would have been Monday, Oct 4th.

Results as of Oct. 4th

OU

9/4 Bowling Green W 40-24

9/11 Houston W 63-13

9/18 Oregon W 31-7

10/2 Texas Tech W 28-13

USC

8/28 Virginia Tech W 24-13

9/11 Colorado State W 49-0

9/18 Brigham Young W 42-10

9/25 Stanford W 31-28

Auburn

9/4 Louisiana-Monroe W 31-0

9/11 Mississippi State W 43-14

9/18 LSU W 10-9

9/25 Citadel W 33-3

10/2 Tennessee W 34-10

So now OU is 4-0 with wins over who? ANY top 20 teams? USC is 4-0 after winning a shootout with VT and almost blowing it at Stanford (was Stanford even ranked?) Auburn is 5-0 with 3 wins against SEC teams including 2 TOP TEN TEAMS and two cupcakes. Yeah, the LSU game went down to the wire, but they were ranked #4 I think and they were the defending national champs.

Having said all that, you still think Auburn would be behind OU and USC? In a fair, objective system, I don't think so. Now I'm not saying they would be number one because I'm sure there were a couple of other teams like Michigan that got off to good starts or something like that...but my point is that we started off A LOT better than who we're stuck behind right now.

Get rid of preseason polls if we can't have a playoff system. period.