SEC respect from Fiutak

[quietfan 233]

At last, a little respect for the SEC from somebody:

http://www.collegefootballnews.com/2006/Sp...tions_20_14.htm

Which conference will be the best in 2006?

...

1. SEC - Vanderbilt showed last year that it can be competitive and Mississippi State should have a killer defense. Ole Miss will be better in Ed Orgeron's second year, and Kentucky will be decent, even if the record doesn't show it. Everyone else is really, really good. Even though Georgia should take a step back, the league is amazing with Florida, LSU and Auburn national title contenders and Alabama, Arkansas and South Carolina good enough to beat anyone in the league. Tennessee should be one of the year's top turnaround teams. The best team should be ... Florida

Also of interest:

25 non-conference games to get really, really excited about are ...

Along with the always great conference rivalry games, there appear to be more good non-conference games than ever. If these don't give you a few special feelings, you're reading the wrong publication.

25. Oregon State at Boise State, Sept. 9

24. Oregon at Fresno State, Sept. 9

23. Minnesota at California, Sept. 9

22. Marshall at West Virginia, Sept. 2

21. Utah at UCLA, Sept. 2

20. Notre Dame at Georgia Tech, Sept. 2

19. Washington State at Auburn, Sept. 2

18. Maryland at West Virginia, Sept. 14

17. Louisville at Kansas State, Sept. 23

16. Iowa State at Iowa, Sept. 16

15. Georgia Tech at Georgia, Nov. 25

14. Arizona State at Colorado, Sept. 16

13. South Carolina at Clemson, Nov. 25

12. Colorado at Georgia, Sept. 23

11. California at Tennessee, Sept. 2

10. USC at Arkansas, Sept. 2

9. UCLA at Notre Dame, Oct. 21

8. Oklahoma at Oregon, Sept. 16

7. Miami at Louisville, Sept. 16

6. Michigan at Notre Dame, Sept. 16

5. Florida at Florida State, Nov. 25

4. Nebraska at USC, Sept. 16

3. Penn State at Notre Dame, Sept. 9

2. Notre Dame at USC, Nov. 25

1. Ohio State at Texas, Sept. 9

[Fluffed 0]

i didn't count but was that like 5 games on the out of conference game list that Notre Dame was part of?

Is that even fair? they DON'T HAVE a conference. every game for them is OOC. So they just list every good matchup they're involved in? If they did that for Auburn it would look like...

Auburn LSU!

Auburn Florida!

Auburn Georgia!

Auburn Alabama!

Auburn.. you get the picture..

stupid ND.. just join a conference.

[WarDlowe 39]

I would like to point out 1 mistake... I don't think Auburn UAT should be in that list.

[Boonan 0]

I've watched long enough with the comments and finally have decided I must interject. So Alabama isn't the superpower they once were, but I find it silly to completely belittle them. I would just assume think they're a freaking good football team so it means more when we win. Who wants to beat a pansy? They aren't that bad and it's thoughts like those seen all over the board that will get us beat in the future.

That's my rant.

[jc4tigers 0]

can't say i'm real sure of how my thoughts on an internet message board effect the performance of Brandon Cox and Kenny Irons on the field... so we'll just agree to disagree

[quietfan 233]

Hopefully the Capital One Bowl taught all of our current players a harsh lesson about listening to media (or Internet) hype or letting it affect your preparation and attitude before a game. So I'd like to think nothing they read anywhere will affect their game faces again.

But too much belittling of Bama (and I'm not innocent of that myself) is certainly going to make it harder for us fans to swallow when they finally do beat us again. And that's bound to happen sooner or later...I just hope it's much later and not next year after all the "Fear the Thumb" hype. They did go 10-2 last year, and while one might argue that some of their victories were miraculous escapes, Auburn pretty much pulled a miracle out of the fire to beat Georgia too.

On the other hand, as long as the Crimson Koolaid Cult continues to think they are God's gift to football, it behooves the rest of the football world to do whatever they can to counterbalance that illusion. If the mass of Alabama fans will stop acting like their program is on some etherial plane above reality, then I will have much less interest in diminishing the image of their program. [Funny how they believe everybody hates them because of their success--which may have been true in the heyday of Bear Bryant--while in reality people mostly hate them today because of their unbridled arrogance.]

[tgr4lfe 220]

At least ND scheduled a half way decent schedule this year. Their first 4 games are not cupcakes by any means. Purdue I have no idea how good they will be, but hey they were in the middle to bottom of Big East last year. Stanford was inthe middle of the Weak10 last year. UCLA was a good ball team last year. REally, Air Force and Navy are the only cupcakes I can see, all the others are very capable of beating ND. I do think ND will be pretty good next year and very good if their D improves over last year.

9-2-06 at Georgia Tech

9-9-06 PENN STATE

9-16-06 MICHIGAN

9-23-06 at Michigan State

9-30-06 PURDUE

10-7-06 STANFORD

10-21-06 UCLA

10-28-06 at Navy @Baltimore, MD

11-4-06 NORTH CAROLINA

11-11-06 at Air Force

11-18-06 ARMY

11-25-06 at Southern California

[AURainman 6]

9-2-06  at Georgia Tech

9-9-06  PENN STATE 

9-16-06  MICHIGAN

9-23-06  at Michigan State

9-30-06  PURDUE

10-7-06  STANFORD

10-21-06 UCLA

10-28-06 at Navy @Baltimore, MD

11-4-06  NORTH CAROLINA 

11-11-06 at Air Force

11-18-06 ARMY

11-25-06 at Southern California

220373[/snapback]

So, when the media darlings are getting praise for this schedule, Auburn should be getting some love for our schedule as well. Here's my best matches. The better team is listed in BOLD

Georgia Tech = South Carolina

Penn State = Florida

Michigan = Georgia

Michigan State = Ole Miss

Purdue = Miss State

Stanford = Arkansas

UCLA = Alabama

Navy = Tulane

North Carolina = Washington State

Air Force = Arkansas State

Army = Buffalo

Southern Cal = LSU

And I think Washington State is Leaps and Bounds better than UNC, but I ran out of comparable teams.

[WarTiger 3,913]

I still don't get this love affair with Florida. This is a team that NEVER won anything before Spurrier got there, and haven't yet contended for anything since he left. Why is a team with a second year coach that produced very mediocre results getting so much attention?? They've done nothing.

[aumoore 0]

I still don't get this love affair with Florida.  This is a team that NEVER won anything before Spurrier got there, and haven't yet contended for anything since he left.  Why is a team with a second year coach that produced very mediocre results getting so much attention??  They've done nothing.

220546[/snapback]

Aupcolatiger

Ask any Bama fan it is all about "Tradisun"

Actually Florida has always been the SEC Sleeping Giant but never had a good coach until Spurrier. Urben Meyer is no match for the Old Ball Coach but he is pretty good so they will be in the thick of things in the SEC.

[WarTiger 3,913]

I still don't get this love affair with Florida.  This is a team that NEVER won anything before Spurrier got there, and haven't yet contended for anything since he left.  Why is a team with a second year coach that produced very mediocre results getting so much attention??  They've done nothing.

220546[/snapback]

Aupcolatiger

Ask any Bama fan it is all about "Tradisun"

Actually Florida has always been the SEC Sleeping Giant but never had a good coach until Spurrier. Urben Meyer is no match for the Old Ball Coach but he is pretty good so they will be in the thick of things in the SEC.

220552[/snapback]

But they had this same hype last year, with meyer in his first year, and were middle of the pack. Shouldn't they actually have to EARN the recognition they are getting. Meyer is unproven at this level of competition, and quite frankly, I don't see him lasting much longer than Zook did at florida...

[Nay4AU 2]

I still don't get this love affair with Florida.  This is a team that NEVER won anything before Spurrier got there, and haven't yet contended for anything since he left.  Why is a team with a second year coach that produced very mediocre results getting so much attention??  They've done nothing.

220546[/snapback]

Aupcolatiger

Ask any Bama fan it is all about "Tradisun"

Actually Florida has always been the SEC Sleeping Giant but never had a good coach until Spurrier. Urben Meyer is no match for the Old Ball Coach but he is pretty good so they will be in the thick of things in the SEC.

220552[/snapback]

But they had this same hype last year, with meyer in his first year, and were middle of the pack. Shouldn't they actually have to EARN the recognition they are getting. Meyer is unproven at this level of competition, and quite frankly, I don't see him lasting much longer than Zook did at florida...

220553[/snapback]

I heard some media trying to compare the '06 Gators to '00 Oklahoma. Stoops had a mediocre 7-5 first season at OU in ’99 before winning the MNC in ’00. Like you guys though, I’ve got to see it before I believe it.

[WarTiger 3,913]

I still don't get this love affair with Florida.  This is a team that NEVER won anything before Spurrier got there, and haven't yet contended for anything since he left.  Why is a team with a second year coach that produced very mediocre results getting so much attention??  They've done nothing.

220546[/snapback]

Aupcolatiger

Ask any Bama fan it is all about "Tradisun"

Actually Florida has always been the SEC Sleeping Giant but never had a good coach until Spurrier. Urben Meyer is no match for the Old Ball Coach but he is pretty good so they will be in the thick of things in the SEC.

220552[/snapback]

But they had this same hype last year, with meyer in his first year, and were middle of the pack. Shouldn't they actually have to EARN the recognition they are getting. Meyer is unproven at this level of competition, and quite frankly, I don't see him lasting much longer than Zook did at florida...

220553[/snapback]

I heard some media trying to compare the '06 Gators to '00 Oklahoma. Stoops had a mediocre 7-5 first season at OU in ’99 before winning the MNC in ’00. Like you guys though, I’ve got to see it before I believe it.

220573[/snapback]

Well, thats great, but do this comparison in January 07 instead of Feb 06 before the season starts..