To all my family members in the AU Family...

[bojack34 2]

I have been an fan all my life and everybody knows their were plenty of years where choked and I mean choked bad but not for one minute did I ever think of changing my allegiance. Yes, the polls are important as far as who goes to what bowl game and everyone on this board would be lying if they said they don't pay attention to the polls. No, I was not happy with muschamp last night either but calling for his job and wanting gibbs back, come on what are you thinking? Gibbs?Do you forget so quickly what happened earlier this year at the bowl game during and after. Please don't let this turn into a look alike tide insider forum. WAR DAMN EAGLE!!!

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

I'm a proud member of the don't play for the polls gang, and I got good reason.

I played division one athletics and took on the poll before injury and death of father, wasn't football but soccer.. but they all work the same except we get a tournement (you got a group of voters that don't see the game and vote off tradition and scores blah blah blah). Team was a powerhouse then, and still is as its always ranked in the top 10.

We were sitting around 8th or 9th, were gonna have to go on the road in seedings with 4 games left. Thought we were getting shafted by the polls and the bias for teams on the right or left coast. Took on that lets make a statement, we arent respected, we'll show you attitude and we have to do it now. We will beat everyone 5-0 and show the SOBs

Backfire. We forced stuff we wouldn't with poor passing and shots trying to score every second rather than building, defense instead of containing and shepparding for help thought they had to strip everyone and got beat. Everyone was trying to win the game and make a statement for the team on their own. Mistakes that would have been shrugged off lingered, and turned into arguments with other players that originally noone would have thought about. We had a defender that had not given up a shot on goal in 10 games, got beat and it resulted in a goal. Keeper cussed him out on the field and they got into a fist fight after the game. That stuff is just the tip of the iceberg.

We dropped 3 of our last 4 because playing for the stupid polls broke our chemistry, unity, and technique... all so we could be impressive. We got our crap together and made it to the final 4 once the polls didn't matter. Turned out if we would have just won 2 of those games we would have hosted.

Thats why I said playing for the polls is dangerous. This stuff could easily transfer over, why'd you drop the pass? how come you missed that block? Think Stan White, Frank Sanders, and the 0-line of 90 or 91. All they did was bicker about and at each other and lost games.

The best quote I have seen on this situation and game was the one by Cox about having fun, the perfect attitude to have.

People talk reality, reality for me is I have experienced polls wreck a team, and that agenda's and bias's play a major role in how polls shape up.

[DKW 86 7,440]

I'm not an Auburn man because of any poll out there nor am I an Auburn fan for the payoff of one day winning a MNC. Bama could win the rest of them for the remainder of my existence and it wouldn't change my allegiance one bit.

We still have a lot of quality opponents remaining and spending one second concerned about what any voter has to say does no true Auburn fan any good. If your main concern is a poll than maybe Auburn Football isn't your thing.

Who here is only a fan based on where the football team ends up in the National polls?

Not one person on this board we all hope. But, I want the best for the ones I love. Wife, kids, family, AU Family included. Running around trying to prove who "out Loves" Auburn is kind of a strange. If you love Auburn because you will stay with them through hard times, well yeah I will be right there with you. But there are those of us that would also like to see the flip side as well. We would like to see our Tigers roar with the bext of them.

Supporting a team can go both ways guys, it isnt only standing beside then when they do badly. Sometimes a loving-supporting family member can sometimes motivate you to do better. Just ask Blackmon and Sears.

[SLAG-91 1,483]

I concur with the Texan, even though his choice of "other" school leaves a bit to be desired...

If some of you want to work yourselves into a froth about the polls every week, then by all means go ahead and stress yourselves out. There will be a few folks here that will be apoplectic if AU drops a spot after this weekend...and for what?

I'll say it as long and as loud as I have to: If Auburn has the blessed good fortune to go 14-0 this year, then everything else that follows is gravy. That is the only thing the team (or any team) has total and complete control of: Wins and losses.

I don't stew about the beauty pageant aspect of it anymore...it's not worth it. Everybody would, of course, love the ostensible validation of a MNC...it would be foolish to state otherwise. BUT...some of y'all have gone completely through the looking glass and into the land of jabberwock with the week-to-week obsession with the opinion of others.

what bothers me is the notion that we turn the seasons into a solitary 0/1 proposition -- winning someone else's approval. there's a lot of other victories out there other than that.

04 changed things for me. i hated that i was disappointed after the 04 sugar bowl -- a tremendous accomplishment for the team we all support -- being overshadowed by a bunch of other people's opinions. it was a tremendous feat that stands with no asterisk. that team will always be undefeated. i hope this year's team gets to say the same.

I'm in 191% agreement with this.

[DKW 86 7,440]

I think some are still not getting my point. If you want your team to get to the final level, then you have to play by the rules that we agreed to. I would be the absolute first to want a playoff. Hope we get it soon.

But until then, if you really want your team to do better than just being an also ran, you have to admit that the polls do play SOME part in getting to the big dance.

I didnt say I liked it or you had to like it. It just is what it is right now. This is the situation as it now stands. The rules we decided to play by.

Oh yeah, I hope we put every poll in the trash can tommorow morning. I dislike them badly and think they all are more than likely biased. But still, if you want to get into the BCS, you gotta play by the BCS rules. Bottomline is bottomline.

[AuNuma1 1]

The polls and how people vote in them are sketchy by design, so count me in "don't care" group. I couldn't care less how Auburn is viewed by people that vote in polls. Auburn will never be a media darling like the ND's and USC's so screw it. If Auburn wins games, I'm happy and that's all you can hope for as a fan. Until all the subjectiveness is removed from the game and the players and coaches are the ones that determine the success of their team, I couldn't give a rat's ass about voters and polls. This might as well be gymnastics we're talking about.

And just to spin this "importance" of polls the other way...by your logic, you have to recognize all 19 or however many MNC's that bammer claims because, afterall, someone, even if only one person from some media source, voted them number one at the end of the year. It's BS.

5-0, WAR DAMN EAGLE.

[DKW 86 7,440]

The polls and how people vote in them are sketchy by design, so count me in "don't care" group. I couldn't care less how Auburn is viewed by people that vote in polls. Auburn will never be a media darling like the ND's and USC's so screw it. If Auburn wins games, I'm happy and that's all you can hope for as a fan.

And just to spin this "importance" of polls the other way...by your logic, you have to recognize all 19 or however many MNC's that bammer claims because, afterall, someone, even if only one person from some media source, voted them number one at the end of the year. It's BS.

5-0, WAR DAMN EAGLE.

So Numa, you really dont care about winning an MNC then?

[AuNuma1 1]

I care that Auburn beats the team in front of them. And if Auburn beats every team put in front of them and still doesn't get a chance at the big game, that's not Auburn's fault. Just further proof that public opinion takes more precedence over what the actual players are doing on the field....it's completely backwards and silly. So therefore, I don't care.

[mcgufcm 4,107]

look i follow the polls. they're very entertaining. they're great to b!tch about. they're great to take pride in (although that is also a little funny to me since i never played a down at auburn). i also think they are inherently flawed, biased, and all-but-useless. i know you have to have them to win a national title, but really what is that? it's nothing to do with football played on a field. i know that. if it was 2004 never would've happened. neither would 1983. and 1993 wouldn't be some of my fondest memories. the point is the polls are nothing but opinion polls, and i like the game of football too much to let opinions sour it for me. best game ever created. only sport in the world with a place for every single type of athlete (fat and strong? oline! slow with a good arm? qb! fast and physical? rb or lb! fast with good hands? wr! fast, quick and bad hands? db! can you kick? kick! everyone has a seat at the table... not true of any other sport). this is the REAL beautiful game. i know polls result in one particualr award, but too much focus on them can take your focus on what a great game this is.

i also think the idea of "not watching polls" being equivalent to "not playing for championships" is just plain silly. pat dye played for sec titles first and foremost. would he have taken a mnc in 83? hell yeah. but he was most concerned with the sec. steve spurrier was once quoted as saying his number one goal every year at florida was to win the sec. number one goal. i guess that means b/c it wasn't a mythical title, he just wasn't really concerned with championships. no the conference title is a real championship. won on the field. it has nothing to do with opinion. i think auburn was better than uga last year, but THEY were the champions. that's the trophy i'm most concerned about... not the one opinions get to decide.

[jumbo 0]

Like Ranger said Auburn won the game and at the end of the day thats all that matters! Auburn didnt come out and kill sc but they still found a way to win and great teams find a way to win! If Auburn keeps winning the polls will take care of themselves(unlike 2004)lAuburn has some huge games coming up that will be dogfights,( Florida, Arky, Uga, Bammer) so worrying about the MNc after 5 games is very premature! I love Auburn but like Ti said we are playing for the west crown and then for the sec championship right now that is all that matters! Thinking this way doesnt mean im blowing sunshine im just speaking the truth I know Auburn has a great team and will get all the kinks worked out for the piggies! so if thinking this way makes me dumb oh well I guess that time share i just bought was a bad idea too!

[auee90 0]

David, I completely agree with your essay. Yes, we all love AU so much that the MNC is the real goal. We've won the west. We've won the SEC. We thought we had a chance at the MNC in '04. We learned that one team that showed up at that dance didn't really belong. Well done polls/BCS, look what you produced. So whatever OU did to get to that point, it worked. They won big. Got those style points. Had someone with a last name of Stoops, which somehow created instant credibility, almost as much as Bowden does. And we get left in the cold to play a very good VT team. So now our team must do things better to earn that #1/2 spot in the BCS poll. Only the voting coaches and computers really know what those things are. Otherwise, we need some luck with one or both of those teams ahead of us losing. If we go undefeated and not go to Tempe, yeah, I'll be pissed. I'll write some letters to people in charge. But I'll be real proud too. And, it give us more ammunition to demand a playoff and claiming the BCS is a sham; a popularity contest; a desire of the ESPN talking heads.

It's pure luck when it works out that there's only 2 undefeated teams or 1-loss teams at the end of the season. That doesn't mean the BCS works. These people need to take a logic class (the philosphical type, not the EE type). Learn about proper arguments and their converses, and other things that make a point or a decision.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

I think some are still not getting my point. If you want your team to get to the final level, then you have to play by the rules that we agreed to. I would be the absolute first to want a playoff. Hope we get it soon.

But until then, if you really want your team to do better than just being an also ran, you have to admit that the polls do play SOME part in getting to the big dance.

I didnt say I liked it or you had to like it. It just is what it is right now. This is the situation as it now stands. The rules we decided to play by.

Oh yeah, I hope we put every poll in the trash can tommorow morning. I dislike them badly and think they all are more than likely biased. But still, if you want to get into the BCS, you gotta play by the BCS rules. Bottomline is bottomline.

I understand what your saying man, but I don't think its a good reason to blast those of us that don't beleive in playing for the polls.

The polls do play a major role, but as I think I demonstrated from personal experience making them the focus and catering to them can kill you as a team.

How do you solve the problem of the rules? X voter says Auburn should have won by 30... negative, X voter says wow tough road win in the SEC.... positive. X voter never saw the game just a few highlights in the paper and says well Auburn won I'm not moving them.... positive. X voter says champions survive bad games.... positive, one says champions don't have bad games..... negative. So n so's computer system says great win on the road for conference strength... positive. So n so's computer says bad win you should have played division III team A..... negative. Talking heads hype, highlight and push X team for media market and attractiveness and ignore others for the same reason. X SID or coach pushes teams in their conference in polls to make their own team or attractive etc. To be honest what are the rules on voting? Every single voter has a different rule for how they will vote.

We have no control over the polls, no matter if we win by 30 or by 1 or how much we complain on message boards. 04 is a perfect example, voters and talking heads made excuses for OU but a major player was they had two Heisman hopefuls against USC's two Heisman hopefuls. Voters will vote how they vote and come up with some way to justify it. And its getting worse, not improving.

Do I want Auburn to win a NC, yes very badly. Do I want to watch our team and fanbase rip each other up and destroy each other over something that we have absolutly no control over... no... thats not what Auburn as a University is about. I have no problems with level headed discussions by either side.

I really hate the post you made cause I have seen very very similar comments made before, and it was in the locker room during the hunt for a NC and it nearly ended that hunt.

Your right, people do watch the polls. But for every fan, recruit etc that lives and dies by it there is one that says its a BS system. But why attack your own, tell them to shut up, and that they don't know what they speak of or what reality is over something noone can control because they believe in the play hard, play our game, get it done our way on he field, and damn the media and the voters philosophy.

Want more reality, we aren't flashy and we aren't pretty, we are in a conference that alot of sportswriters detest cause its arrogant and considered crooked, our teams win with D and not O as a majority, and all that stuff hurts us when voting happens especially against the pretty teams.

[mayonaise 0]

WTF!

So what do you want us to do go burn down some things, if we don't get ranked in the top two next week. The polls are helping us right now. What would we think if we were W. V.U. . they're basically f***ed. Two teams must lose. Which could probably happen. Should I cry now if I'm W.V.U. ?

I just don't understand the need for the rant. It's like everyhting sucks, but I can't tell you what we persaonally should do to correct it. But you should care.WTF?

[Ranger12 46]

David,

I understand the frustration with the poll crap. I gripe about it like everbody else. We all do. I follow the polls and would like to be in the MNC game like everybody else. However, just like 2004, I will get over and life will go on. But I am not going to let it piss me off after the 5th game. Our defense played it's worse game in two years and SC played arguably their best game in two years, and we still came out with a win. That is what I am happy about. Lesser teams would have came out with a loss if they would have been us. Just like USC has escpaed close games in the last few years, we are probably going to do the same. But like I said, great teams pull out wins even when they are playing like crap. That is not sunshine pumping, that is being proud of having a team capable of winning even when they are not at their best.

Of the ones that disagree with your post, they may feel like I do about it. I don't have a problem with the game commentary and you giving your opinion as much as I have a problem with you going on the attack of those on the board that do not see it your way. If you would have been anybody else, the way you called out those that you don't agree with and insulted us, well, you would in turn have gotten called out by admin and mods on the board. You sort of broke one of the rules of the board with the way you went about your post. I am having a hard time figuring out why you did that because that is out of character for you.

[DKW 86 7,440]

From some of the posts above I can see a lot of tap dancing going on here.

I want the MNC. We have done the SEC, SEC West, win the Iron Bowl thing. We must set our goals higher.

I have never said that we need to run up the score on anyone. NEVER.

I have never said that we should criticize the team. Look at the AUN Rules if you dont believe me.

I really just want some of you knee jerkers to wake up and realize that your goals are contradictory.

If you really want a BCS Title, then you have to play by the BCS rules. PERIOD.

If you dont want to play by the BCS rules then why even bother with all the monotonous posts on ESPN, Gameday, Media Bias, Polls, whatever...

I want you folks to think about something first. Are you really ready to pay the price for a BCS Title?

[bojack34 2]

David, let me ask you a serious question. If I or someone else who is not a mod or adm would have made a post like that would it still be in the football forum or would you send it to the woodshed? IMHO the post belongs in the woodshed.

[jumbo 0]

From some of the posts above I can see a lot of tap dancing going on here.

I want the MNC. We have done the SEC, SEC West, win the Iron Bowl thing. We must set our goals higher.

I have never said that we need to run up the score on anyone. NEVER.

I have never said that we should criticize the team. Look at the AUN Rules if you dont believe me.

I really just want some of you knee jerkers to wake up and realize that your goals are contradictory.

If you really want a BCS Title, then you have to play by the BCS rules. PERIOD.

If you dont want to play by the BCS rules then why even bother with all the monotonous posts on ESPN, Gameday, Media Bias, Polls, whatever...

I want you folks to think about something first. Are you really ready to pay the price for a BCS Title?

Im ready to get a second job so I can send money to boosters so they can pay recruits and we can pay the price! no wait that wont work probation may be a bad thing, I know maybe I should work out 7 days a week and go without beer and sex and then maybe some voter in bristol will vote me #2! We dont play the games so we dont affect the outcome how can I pay the price I DONT PLAY FOR THE TIGERS WE ARE JUST FANS REMEMBER!

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

I have never said that we need to run up the score on anyone. NEVER.

But that is in the rules to win a NC. Why was OU leaving their starting team up by 35 and throwing TD passes with 35 seconds left. Why did USC leave their starters in and attack Arkansas to run the score up (so they could say they blew out a SEC team for credibility). If Tuberville won't hange 50 on people out of sportsmanship, well we are never going to win the NC unless all the chips fall just right.

I really just want some of you knee jerkers to wake up and realize that your goals are contradictory.

My goals aren't contradictory. I know the polls decide the BCS. But I don't want the team to implode and ruin its season trying to please voters and 100% surely end the chance. My perspective of it comes from on the field experience. You suit up, try and win a NC at the division one level and compete with the polls, then come and tell me I'm contradicting myself if referring to me. There is a point you have to let it go, do it your way on the field, and if it works it works. You can do everything possible, and even that won't be enough quite a few times on the field when the polls are set.

If you really want a BCS Title, then you have to play by the BCS rules. PERIOD.

BCS is based off voting, which I have mentioned the various KNOWN ways that voters vote. I ask again, what exactly are the rules of voting? Can you garuntee that voters wouldn't have just shrugged their shoulders at a 35-3 win and said well Auburn was suppose to do that, then turn around and jump USC over Auburn cause of voting differences?

If you dont want to play by the BCS rules then why even bother with all the monotonous posts on ESPN, Gameday, Media Bias, Polls, whatever...

What are the freaking BCS rules with voting again? They are inconsistent, every year there is some tweak to the computers or the % or which polls are used. I think a majority of comments are don't sweat the polls, or don't be suprised that so n so said that about us, or that they are pushing X over us. Plus I like the discussion because its a growing problem with college football and its starting to add into it several things that I really dislike about pro football.

I want you folks to think about something first. Are you really ready to pay the price for a BCS Title?

If Auburn has to sell out, embarass its oppenents just to embarass them, make up fake crap for tradition to market to networks... basically becomes whores for that crystal

then a very loud HELL NO.

[DKW 86 7,440]

We are about to get to the meat of the topic here. Texan, We actually agree on this. I will let the polls play out for a day or so and then combine this stuff.

I have come to a conclusion about my own thinking about this after being challenged by a few of you.

Wait till Sunday for the results.

[TexasTiger 13,005]

Someone turn David's morphine drip up just a bit. He's not getting nearly enough.

BTW, What good will worrying with the polls at this point in the season do exactly? Really. It's not like I am going to change some SID's mind in southern Idaho that is intent on voting for USuCk if I jump up and down throwing a hissy-fit while throwing my Auburn family members under the bus.

I think he's drinking again.

I'll get worked up over the polls if come December AU is 13-O and getting screwed. But I'm not going to fail to enjoy a win because I live in fear of reliving 2004 and getting screwed. If AU can win all their games between now and then, I don't want to rob myself of enjoying that because of what some asswipe on ESPN might say. If AU loses a game, then the polls won't matter to me so much. Right now, I don't think there will be 3 unbeaten teams at the end of the year, so if AU wins without "shining", I still think they get there.

Sure, I want to be ranked high. Sure I look at the polls. But right now, I don't want to get all ballistic b/c AU didn't impress Kirk Herbstreit very much on Thursday night. David prefers the "OMIGOD, WE MISSED OUR CHANCES TO SHINE!!!!" posts. Fine, there should be plenty enough of those to keep him happy. Move them to the classic forum and you can read them forever.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

We are about to get to the meat of the topic here. Texan, We actually agree on this. I will let the polls play out for a day or so and then combine this stuff.

I have come to a conclusion about my own thinking about this after being challenged by a few of you.

Wait till Sunday for the results.

Out of curiosity I'm going to guess your waiting on the Ohio State/Iowa and USC/WSU scores.

I'm really interested to see what will happen and be said if the margin of the USC/WSU score is smaller than the Auburn/WSU. Though I'm hoping the Cougs will pull out a win.

And maybe Iowa can do something, my mom up in Chicago knows alot of Iowa grads and they are all excited and buzzing about being a prime time game and it being in Iowa

I also liked your questions you asked cause I think some of them really get to the heart of the matter, especially the last one.

[AUdaREALsecTigers 2]

FWIW I'm in complete agreement with Texan and Ranger.

At the end of the day I don't want to be USC or Oklahoma. I like the way Tuberville has built this program on character and integrity. I'll take sportsmanship over flash any day.

Bottom line- Our program is a winning one above and beyond BCS standards. I wouldn't want to cheapen it for a hunk of crystal (although the crystal is very nice ). We may very well get screwed by the opinion poll that is the BCS again this year. We may have to endure some ribbing from the "got 12?" crowd for being left out once again. But don't think for one minute that they don't want to be us.

If I have to choose between changing our program and only being number two or three in the country...

[The Prowler 1]

Im ready to get a second job so I can send money to boosters so they can pay recruits and we can pay the price! no wait that wont work probation may be a bad thing, I know maybe I should work out 7 days a week and go without beer and sex and then maybe some voter in bristol will vote me #2! We dont play the games so we dont affect the outcome how can I pay the price I DONT PLAY FOR THE TIGERS WE ARE JUST FANS REMEMBER!

I Conquer........

[mcgufcm 4,107]

no contradiction here. i want this team to play for championships: sec championships. just like steve spurrier did in the 90s. just like pat dye did in the 80s. i want to be the most dominant team of the 00s and the 10s and the 20s IN THE SEC. if you do that, if you win those, every now and then you might get a little cake on top, look up one day, and realize you got a mythical title as well. for now, all i'm really CONCERNED about is the only championship you can win on the field: the SEC championship. national title? i'll be really happy if we win, and i won't give a crap if we don't.

[TigerHeat 9]

no contradiction here. i want this team to play for championships: sec championships. just like steve spurrier did in the 90s. just like pat dye did in the 80s. i want to be the most dominant team of the 00s and the 10s and the 20s IN THE SEC. if you do that, if you win those, every now and then you might get a little cake on top, look up one day, and realize you got a mythical title as well. for now, all i'm really CONCERNED about is the only championship you can win on the field: the SEC championship. national title? i'll be really happy if we win, and i won't give a crap if we don't.

We can't impact the MNC polls. The media isn't interested at all. That's why USC comes from behind at the end of the game to beat crappy teams several times per year. The spin is always "USC sparkles in great game". ND is crap, but they get nothing but love. We beat an SEC with SPURRIER at his house with a wounded QB and 2nd string secondary in....we were never behind. SC was driving desperately at the end to even have a shot at the game. SC will beat some folks soon, but not AU.

We can win the SEC hands down. Hopefully, this WIN against SC will have our D ready for the crazy offense we will see from FL Gators. Tebow is a real threat....lightyears more dangerous than Newton. CTT has rarely been unprepared for a game (Wisconsin and GA Tech come to mind). We'll be ready for FL thanks to Syvelle Newton.