(SEC Media Day) - I don't believe in curses....

[TigerfanKM 37]

The Auburn Tigers are predicted to win its seventh Southeastern Conference football championship this season by media voting at the 2006 SEC Football Media Days, concluding today at the Wynfrey Hotel.

The Tigers were selected as SEC Champion on 73 ballots while Florida was named on 11, Georgia on seven, LSU on six, Alabama on five and Tennessee on two.

In the divisional races, Auburn was named to win the Western Division on 87 ballots while LSU placed second, Alabama third, Arkansas fourth, Ole Miss fifth and Mississippi State sixth. Florida was predicted to win the Eastern Division. The Gators were named on 49 ballots to win the division. Defending SEC Champion Georgia was named to win the East on 42 ballots and placed second in the division. Tennessee was third, South Carolina fourth, Kentucky fifth and Vanderbilt sixh.

Now my question: How many times have these voters been correct? If I remembr correctly the % is very low. It's like the "kiss of death" to be seleceted. Stat Tiger or someone, help me out if I am wrong....

[vatz22au 142]

2006 SEC Football Media Days Voting Announced

07/28/2006

Auburn predicted to defeat Florida in Championship Game; Auburn, Georgia, LSU lead with double figure selections

HOOVER, Ala. -- The Auburn Tigers are predicted to win its seventh Southeastern Conference football championship this season by media voting at the 2006 SEC Football Media Days, concluding today at the Wynfrey Hotel.

The Tigers also led all teams with 12 players selected to the Media Days pre-season All-SEC squad.

The Media Days event drew more than 500 media during the three days and an SEC Media Days-record 104 voted for the pre-season All-SEC Team and predictions.

The Tigers were selected as SEC Champion on 73 ballots while Florida was named on 11, Georgia on seven, LSU on six, Alabama on five and Tennessee on two.

In the divisional races, Auburn was named to win the Western Division on 87 ballots while LSU placed second, Alabama third, Arkansas fourth, Ole Miss fifth and Mississippi State sixth. Florida was predicted to win the Eastern Division. The Gators were named on 49 ballots to win the division. Defending SEC Champion Georgia was named to win the East on 42 ballots and placed second in the division. Tennessee was third, South Carolina fourth, Kentucky fifth and Vanderbilt sixh.

Georgia and LSU each had 10 players selected to the All-SEC squad followed by Arkansas and Florida with eight each, Alabama with seven and Tennessee with six. Kentucky had four, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State each had three while South Carolina and Ole Miss had two each. There were first, second and third-teams selected for this year's media days pre-season squad.

Eleven of the 12 SEC teams had first-team selections and every conference school has representatives on the All-SEC squad.

Ole Miss senior linebacker Patrick Willis was the top vote-getter among All-SEC recipients, being named on 98 of 104 ballots.

FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC -- OFFENSE

TE Martrez Milner (35) Georgia 6-4 240 Sr. Gainesville, Ga.

OL Arron Sears (95) Tennessee 6-4 320 Sr. Russellville, Ala.

OL Will Arnold (72) LSU 6-4 322 Jr. Gloster, Miss.

OL Daniel Inman (69) Georgia 6-7 319 Sr. Hope Mills, N.C.

OL Tim Duckworth (65) Auburn 6-4 310 Sr. Taylorsville, Miss.

C Nick Jones (73) Georgia 6-3 295 Sr. Bowdon, Ga.

WR Sidney Rice (94) South Carolina 6-4 200 So. Gaffney, S.C.

WR Earl Bennett (49) Vanderbilt 6-1 202 So. Birmingham, Ala.

QB Chris Leak (69) Florida 6-0 207 Sr. Charlotte, N.C.

RB Kenny Irons (84) Auburn 5-11 200 Sr. Dacula, Ga.

RB Darren McFadden (59) Arkansas 6-2 210 So. N. Little Rock, Ark.

SECOND-TEAM ALL-SEC -- OFFENSE

TE Jacob Tamme (33) Kentucky 6-5 240 Jr. Danville, Ky.

OL Brian Stamper (49) Vanderbilt 6-5 305 Sr. Windermere, Fla.

OL Michael Oher (14) Ole Miss 6-5 ½ 330 So. Memphis, Tenn.

OL Ben Grubbs (13) Auburn 6-3 301 Sr. Eclectic, Ala.

OL Brian Anderson (7) Miss. State 6-6 307 Sr. Butler, Ala

C Antoine Caldwell (27) Alabama 6-3 296 So. Montgomery, Ala.

WR Dallas Baker (19) Florida 6-3 206 Sr. New Smyrna Beach, Fla.

WR Courtney Taylor (16) Auburn 6-2 202 Sr. Carrollton, Ala.

QB Brandon Cox (21) Auburn 6-2 201 Jr. Trussville, Ala.

RB Kenneth Darby (52) Alabama 5-11 205 Sr. Huntsville, Ala.

RB Arian Foster (7) Tennessee 6-1 215 So. San Diego, Calif.

THIRD-TEAM ALL-SEC -- OFFENSE

TE Cole Bennett (14) Auburn 6-4 261 Sr. Dalton, Ga.

OL Zac Tubbs (6) Arkansas 6-6 335 Sr. Cullman, Ala.

OL Robert Felton (5) Arkansas 6-4 319 Jr. Houston, Texas

OL Stephen Parker (3) Arkansas 6-4 310 Sr. Mandeville, La.

OL Brian Johnson (3) LSU 6-4 297 Sr. Tallahassee, Fla.

C Joe Cope (3) Auburn 6-0 276 Sr. Andalusia, Ala.

WR Dwayne Bowe (13) LSU 6-3 217 Sr. Miami, Fla.

WR Marcus Monk (5) Arkansas 6-6 227 Jr. Lepanto, Ark.

QB JaMarcus Russell (10) LSU 6-6 252 Jr. Mobile, Ala.

RB Rafael Little (2) Kentucky 5-10 188 Jr. Anderson, S.C.

RB Thomas Brown (2) Georgia 5-8 185 Jr. Tucker, Ga.

FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC -- DEFENSE

DL Quentin Moses (91) Georgia 6-5 250 Sr. Athens, Ga.

DL Justin Harrell (64) Tennessee 6-4 300 Sr. Martin, Tenn.

DL Marcus Thomas (41) Florida 6-3 286 Sr. Jacksonville, Fla.

LB Patrick Willis (98) Ole Miss 6-2 230 Sr. Bruceton, Tenn.

LB Sam Olajubutu (80) Arkansas 5-9 229 Sr. LaGrange, Ga.

LB Brandon Siler (79) Florida 6-2 235 Jr. Orlando, Fla.

LB Will Herring (40) Auburn 6-3 220 Sr. Opelika, Ala.

DB LaRon Landry (89) LSU 6-2 204 Sr. Ama, La.

DB Fred Bennett (68) South Carolina 6-1 199 Sr. Manning, S.C.

DB David Irons (61) Auburn 5-11 188 Sr. Dacula, Ga.

DB Ramzee Robinson (51) Alabama 5-10 190 Sr. Huntsville, Ala.

SECOND-TEAM ALL-SEC -- DEFENSE

DL Quentin Groves (25) Auburn 6-3 250 Jr. Greenville, Miss.

DL Keith Jackson (20) Arkansas 6-0 300 Sr. Little Rock, Ark.

DL Marquies Gunn (18) Auburn 6-4 254 Sr. Alexander City, Ala.

LB Juwan Simpson (25) Alabama 6-3 222 Sr. Decatur, Ala.

LB Jarvis Jackson (14) Georgia 6-2 218 Sr. Atlanta, Ga.

LB Quinton Culberson (13) Miss. State 6-0 239 Sr. Jackson, Miss.

LB Ali Highsmith (13) LSU 6-1 226 Jr. Miami, Fla.

DB Tra Battle (35) Georgia 5-11 176 Sr. Forsyth, Ga.

DB Reggie Nelson (29) Florida 6-1 195 Jr. Melbourne, Fla.

DB Jonathan Hefney (16) Tennessee 5-9 185 Jr. Rock Hill, S.C.

DB Jeramie Johnson (13) Miss. State 5-11 216 Sr. East Point, Ga.

THIRD-TEAM ALL-SEC -- DEFENSE

DL Chase Pittman (9) LSU 6-4 265 Sr. Shreveport, La.

DL Jarvis Moss (9) Florida 6-6 255 Jr. Denton, Texas

DL Ray McDonald (8) Florida 6-3 280 Sr. Belle Glade, Fla.

LB Earl Everett (12) Florida 6-2 231 Sr. Webster, Fla.

LB Tony Taylor (12) Georgia 6-1 237 Sr. Watkinsville, Ga.

LB Jonathan Goff (10) Vanderbilt 6-4 240 Jr. Lynn, Mass.

LB Wesley Woodyard (7) Kentucky 6-1 212 Jr. LaGrange, Ga.

DB Chevis Jackson (11) LSU 6-0 189 Jr. Mobile, Ala.

DB Simeon Castille (8) Alabama 6-1 192 Jr. Birmingham, Ala.

DB Jessie Daniels (6) LSU 5-11 203 Sr. Breaux Bridge, La.

DB Jonathan Wade (6) Tennessee 6-0 195 Sr. Shreveport, La.

FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC -- SPECIAL TEAMS

PK Brandon Coutu (74) Georgia 6-0 185 Jr. Lawrenceville, Ga.

P Kody Bliss (70) Auburn 5-10 177 Sr. Brentwood, Tenn.

RS Rafael Little (59) Kentucky 5-10 188 Jr. Anderson, S.C.

SECOND-TEAM ALL-SEC -- SPECIAL TEAMS

PK James Wilhoit (12) Tennessee 5-10 195 Sr. Hendersonville, Tenn.

P Gordon Ely-Kelso (16) Georgia 6-2 215 Sr. Athens, Ga.

RS Felix Jones (30) Arkansas 6-0 202 So. Tulsa, Okla.

THIRD-TEAM ALL-SEC -- SPECIAL TEAMS

PK Jamie Christensen (9) Alabama 6-1 181 Jr. Norcross, Ga.

P Chris Jackson (6) LSU 5-11 174 Sr. River Ridge, La.

RS Tyrone Prothro (4) Alabama 5-8 178 Sr. Heflin, Ala

School 1st Team 2nd Team 3rd Team Total

Alabama 1 3 3 7

Arkansas 2 2 4 8

Auburn 5 6 1 12

Florida 3 2 3 8

Georgia 5 3 2 10

Kentucky 1 1 2 4

LSU 2 1 7 10

Ole Miss 1 1 0 2

Mississippi State 0 3 0 3

South Carolina 2 0 0 2

Tennessee 2 3 1 6

Vanderbilt 1 1 1 3

Link

[PChamp119 96]

We had five 2nd team and two 3rd team, but no big deal.

I agree... I think they said its been like 7 years or something since they have picked the correct champion

[AWK 0]

They have been correct twice in the past 14 seasons. Tubberville's interview today:

Q. You mentioned having the target on your back. Did it bother you at all that the media poll has only been right twice in 14 years?

COACH TUBERVILLE: Yeah, that's not a good percentage (smiling). Expectations and predictions are good. You know what, all of you pick from -- you pick from the past couple of years, what the team has done. You look at coaching staffing, how they handle seasons. We've been pretty successful. We've won, what, five of the last six western division championships, either won or tied, we're the winningest team in conference games in the last five years. A lot of guys coming back.

Y'all tend to look at quarterbacks and runningbacks. I tend to look more at linemen. If you're going to be consistent and win games, you have to be consistent on the offense and defensive line to let those guys that get all the publicity make sure that they can do their job.

We've had good recruiting years. Our program is as solid as it's been since I've been at Auburn. Again, I can name you four or five other teams that I've watched grow since I've been at Auburn that's in this league that have done the same thing. It's going to be very competitive.

Somebody has to be ranked up there high. We'll take it this year. Maybe you'll give it to somebody else next year. Hopefully we can add to y'all's better percentages of being right as opposed to not as good of percentages.

Entire interview with CTT, Taylor, and Herring

[TigerOne 1,138]

great answers by CTT, of course the hack media "experts" will make fun and downplay what he said or indicate he is lying or covering something up.

"I'm responsible, I'm the bottom line. If we made a mistake, something was wrong, I try to keep an eye on all of it. I'm not an X and O guy. I delegate authority. I hire people. If they get it done, we go on. If they don't, we make a change. Because of that responsibility I give to them, I take more responsibility in other things, academics is one of those. I spend a tremendous amount of time in that.

This thing that happened the last few weeks, I feel bad about it. Were we wrong? We're going to find out. I'm glad we're looking into it. If I've made a mistake in anything we've done, we'll definitely adjust that, and it will make our team better"

Coach Tommy Tuberville, SEC Media Days

[Auburn910 0]

73 picks to win it, gators next up with 11? that is domination on the selection. you are trying to compare apples to oranges. What if one year team A had 50 picks, team B 40 Team C 35 and Team D 20? There is room for error there. This was a landslide. If you want to see how accurate they are, only look at the years that a team was picked above and beyond to win the SEC. Common sense. DUH.

[smokies 0]

COACH TUBERVILLE: We've won, what, five of the last six western division championships.

I could be wrong but I thought AU has only played in the SEC championship like twice sine 92?

[tigerfan1234 0]

I was thinking the exact same thing. I don't think it is a good thing to be picked to win it all preseason, i.e. 2003 Sports Illustrated. To be named champions before one down has been played, especially in the SEC is rarely a good thing. This means every SEC team will likely have us circled as the #1 or #2 game of the year on their schedules. I'm concerned with whether or not our boys believe they are #1, not some media dork who has never played a down of football in his life. It is nice to finally be gaining respect, but I don't believe we will go through this year unscathed. It would not surprise me to see LSU, Arkansas, or Bama wind up in Atlanta. We play in a conference where rivalry emotions and home field advantage seem to play a larger role in the outcomes of SEC games, as opposed to other conferences. I remember when we took down #1 Florida in 2001( I think is the correct year). Noone from the media saw that coming, but when I walked into Jordan-Hare on that October night, I could feel the electricity in the crowd. There was a sense that something special was going to happen that night. I have seen this scenario played out many times over the years in the SEC. Never any guarantees.

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

I like being the target. 2003 is fresh in the minds of our senior class.

[PChamp119 96]

COACH TUBERVILLE: We've won, what, five of the last six western division championships.

I could be wrong but I thought AU has only played in the SEC championship like twice sine 92?

253132[/snapback]

This also includes ties. 01 and 03 are the only years Auburn has not at least tied since 2000. 2000 and 2004 outright champs of the west, while in 02 and 05 they have tied but lost the tiebreaker Arkansas (LSU also tied that year) and LSU respectively

[tgr4lfe 220]

COACH TUBERVILLE: We've won, what, five of the last six western division championships.

I could be wrong but I thought AU has only played in the SEC championship like twice sine 92?

253132[/snapback]

Reading comp 101, FINISH THE READING THE SENTENCE!!!!!!

We've won, what, five of the last six western division championships, either won or tied, we're the winningest team in conference games in the last five years

[Draven 0]

COACH TUBERVILLE: We've won, what, five of the last six western division championships.

I could be wrong but I thought AU has only played in the SEC championship like twice sine 92?

253132[/snapback]

This also includes ties. 01 and 03 are the only years Auburn has not at least tied since 2000. 2000 and 2004 outright champs of the west, while in 02 and 05 they have tied but lost the tiebreaker Arkansas (LSU also tied that year) and LSU respectively

253150[/snapback]

Its three times 97', 00', 04'

1997 Auburn -Tennessee

2000 Auburn -Florida

2004 Auburn -Tennessee

SEC Champ Games for AU

[AuNuma1 1]

Yeah I'm kind of tired of all this media butt kissing. I'm ready for our guys to get on the field and bust some heads and earn the respect. I've still got the taste of that Wisconsin game in my mouth...anyone remember that game and how awful we looked? I know I do...

[Nay4AU 2]

COACH TUBERVILLE: We've won, what, five of the last six western division championships.

I could be wrong but I thought AU has only played in the SEC championship like twice sine 92?

253132[/snapback]

This also includes ties. 01 and 03 are the only years Auburn has not at least tied since 2000. 2000 and 2004 outright champs of the west, while in 02 and 05 they have tied but lost the tiebreaker Arkansas (LSU also tied that year) and LSU respectively

253150[/snapback]

Auburn did finish tied for the west in 2001. Even though the wheels fell off at the end of the season with losses to LSU and UA. Auburn and LSU both finished 5-3.

2001 SEC Standings

[LSUTigers1404 0]

I'm not into the division "ties." In 2002 we "tied" Arkansas and were named "co-champs." That means nothing to me at all. Arkansas played in the 2002 SEC Championship game, therefore they are the West champs period. Acting like a division tie means anything is just a way to try and make your season look better than it really was.

[DKW 86 7,410]

I'm not into the division "ties." In 2002 we "tied" Arkansas and were named "co-champs." That means nothing to me at all. Arkansas played in the 2002 SEC Championship game, therefore they are the West champs period. Acting like a division tie means anything is just a way to try and make your season look better than it really was.

253294[/snapback]

I agree to a point. What you saw at SEC Media Days, IMHO, was CTT laying the ground work for recruiting the next few years.

I submit evidence:

1) Suspends 2 real live playing hosses in Sears and Blackmon for several games. several MORE games with Sears.

2) Defends the highest APR in the conference, Herring does as as well. Heck Herring sounded like he was interviewing for a HC position to me.

3) He was stating the success rates at AU in winning games.

4) Didnt even have to mention Chette Williams and his ministry.

In 1999 he inherited a truly screwed up mess from CTB. He won the Division in 2000. 2001 we knock off the #1 Team in the Nation, UF and then implode with some bad scheming and injuries. 2002 We have the worst luck in injuries imagineable, walk into IB with a 4th string RB and a third team FB, a converted TE.

2003, a bad hire on his part at OC. 2004 finally have the depth and the Coordinators to win big. 2005, he replaces $89M worth of backfield and out rushes, out receives, and out scores the $89M backfield. One non-wayward FG and

AU plays in the big game again.

CTT was given a huge stage Friday and he did a real life infomercial on "Why, Mr and Mrs parent of a Football Player wants their son to play at AU."

Want to see something real eye catching to a lot of parents of recruits? Look at the preseason selections. UF, UGA, UT, and LSU probably all had higher rated recruiting classes. Look at who turned more of them into ball players....Now, look at CTT's and Chette Williams reps for turning them into really good guys. Now look at CTT put real discipline into the program with Sears and Blackmon. I know where my kid would be going to camp...