DKW 86 7,440 Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Finebaum Can Tub avoid woes of odd year?Saturday, March 19, 2005 In trying to keep up with the helter-skelter state of Auburn football over the years, one thing seems certain -- bet against Tommy Tuberville in odd years. This is 2005 and if you play the chalk, it will mean trouble(ville) for Tuberville. In 1999, which was Tuberville's first year, Auburn went 5-6. In 2001, the Tigers compiled a 7-5 mark (including the 31-7 whipping at home against Alabama). In 2003, despite being preseason No. 1 in some magazines, Auburn started 0-2, finished 8-5 and Tuberville nearly got fired. So what about this time around? In keeping with tradition of picking Auburn's season on A-Day (Alabama's picks will follow shortly), the following is a snapshot view of how I believe the 2005 season will go: -- Sept. 3, Georgia Tech: Revenge will be on Auburn's minds for the shocker from two years ago ... Auburn 34-23. -- Sept. 10, Mississippi State: The Bulldogs still have a long way to go under Sylvester Croom ... Auburn 30-13. -- Sept. 17, Ball State: Bring plenty of no-doze for this one ... Auburn 45-7. -- Sept. 24, Western Kentucky: Be advised to bring a portable TV since Tennessee-LSU will be on the tube at the same time and will be infinitely more interesting. Don't worry if your portable TV reception is lousy during the game; watching a fuzzy test pattern would be better than this snoozer ... Auburn 56-0. -- Oct. 1, South Carolina: The last time Steve Spurrier brought a team to Jordan-Hare, Florida was No. 1 in the country and lost ... Auburn 30-23. -- Oct. 15, at Arkansas: Two years ago, Tuberville finally got the monkey off his back, winning in Fayetteville with a dramatic victory. Arkansas is in transition, thus, allowing Auburn to squeak out another, but barely ... Auburn 16-14. -- Oct. 22, at LSU: The first meeting between Tuberville and Les Myles should be a classic. However, Tiger Stadium has not been kind to Auburn and it won't be here as Auburn's 21-game winning streak comes to a screeching halt ... LSU 19-17. -- Oct. 29, Ole Miss: It might be tough for Auburn to get focused the week after LSU. However, Ole Miss, under a new coach, is another team in transition, so that should make this win just a little easier ... Auburn 27-14. -- Nov. 5, at Kentucky: By this point in the season, it's possible Rich Brooks' fate as UK's head coach may already be sealed. Still, this is a potentially dangerous game and Auburn needs to avoid looking ahead ... Auburn 22-14. -- Nov. 12, at Georgia: A must win for Auburn (for SEC West hopes) and it just won't happen ... Georgia 31-27. -- Nov. 19, Alabama: The history of this series would indicate a very tough and competitive game here. However, the key will be Auburn's mental shape and Alabama's physical shape entering the game. Having said all that, expect a typical Iron Bowl with Auburn winning its fourth straight in the series (first time since late 1980s that will be accomplished) ... Auburn 28-17. Auburn's regular-season record will be 9-2. The schedule is challenging but manageable. Essentially, the season comes down to the road games at Arkansas, LSU and Georgia. Of course, this is assuming the odd-year jinx doesn't haunt Tuberville once again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik81 0 Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 sounds fair I don't understand how people are expecting UGA to be better than us this year-not saying we're better than them but how are they better off than us-they lost as much we did Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vatz22au 142 Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 better than the corndog's predictions of 0-6 coming into Baton Rouge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuNuma1 1 Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Yep, I agree...9-2 at best. And man is he dead on with the odd-year stuff...seems like they've been brutal to us since CTT arrived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietfan 233 Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Sounds about right even if it does mean agreeing with Finebaum... I'd qualify it with a margin of plus or minus a game either way--we could let one slip against Bama, Georgia Tech, or Arkansas on the road, but we could also pull out a victory over LSU or GA---so 8-3 to 10-1, regular season. I think LSU will have to win two out of three from us, TN, and FL to beat us to Atlanta and that won't be easy with a new coach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autigeremt 6,666 Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Only question I have here..................... Will Ga. Tech, UGA, U.S.C., score more than 20 v/s this defense? I can see maybe UGA..........MAYBE. But Ga Tech and USC?????? I will take 9-2 anyday after loosing all that talent! I still think this group can beat LSU @ Tiger Stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG-91 1,483 Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 9-2 on its face looks fair...the stretch of 4 road games in 5 weeks is going to be tough...3 of those aren't anything resembling easy. 2-2 on those trips is a baseline expectation. 3-1 would be really good and 4-0 would be amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowerI 0 Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 I would take that record without a complaint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthLink02 8 Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 Georgia Tech sucks You all will roll them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Sanders 123 Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 Eh.. I disagree completely. I think another undefeated season is most likely, then I have no idea going into the SEC Championship game, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgufcm 4,107 Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 i'd put 9-2 about right. 8-3 is completely understandable, but then again, get a win over ga tech and sneak one out against lsu and could be in for a big year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longtrainn 2 Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 Sounds good to me. I wouldn't be surprised though if we beat either LSU or Georgia, but lost to Arkansas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKW 86 7,440 Posted March 22, 2005 Author Share Posted March 22, 2005 Now will add a small factoid to all this. Finebaum and CTT do talk and i often wondered if he was influenced by CTT's personal picks. Finebaum has a string of under picking us by one game. This holds true for every year except 2003 btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigsixfive 328 Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 It doesn't seem like his score predictions are giving our D too much credit. No way GT hangs 23 on us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug2003 1 Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 I'm not drinking any cool-aide so I believe a real expectation is something like 9-2 ,9-3 as much as it gripes my A$$ to have to agree with Fine the SCUM. There's no way we are going undefeated again------------count on it! We will have a fine season but anyone who believes that crap of another undfeated season is dreaming and becoming closer to the bammer dreamers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longtrainn 2 Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 There's no way we are going undefeated again------------count on it! 152094[/snapback] Gee, going out on a limb there! Only 3 SEC teams have gone undefeated in the last 20 years. I don't think anyone realistically thinks that will happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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