FINAL REGULAR SEASON BLOG POLL BALLOT

For the Oregon photo…

“Thank-you Sir may I have another”

Dude… FSU beats Miami… Texas wins the conference championship by 67 points… USC wins against the “next-best” in the conference by about 50…

The ACC, Big XII, and PAC 10 are complete bullshit conferences.

Kevin, truer words have never been blogged.

Random thoughts on the regular season just completed:

(1) Stranko, my brother! Don’t fall into the “Auburn must be ranked ahead of Georgia” trap that all the other polls are following! Keep in mind that Georgia beat the hell out of both teams that Auburn lost to, and both of those games were away from home (clearly Georgia did not beat the hell out of Tech, but I’m overdramatizing for effect).

(2) The more I think about how dominant the coaching is in the Pac 10 relative to the SEC, the more I realize that what the SEC needs are more coaches like Rich Brooks and Ed Orgeron.

(3) Consider that if USC does not pull off that miracle comeback against ND, the Rose Bowl is almost certainly between Texas and ND. I’d have rather shot myself in the face than listen to the month of hype and game that followed if that were the case. Thank you ML, DJ, and RB.

Solon:

Obviously if Georgia had beaten Auburn, I would have ranked them over Auburn, but not simply because of that one result, but rather because it would have proved me wrong. I’ve been incredibly impressed with Auburn’s evolution this season to the point where I actually thought they were the best team in the SEC before LSU lost this weekend. I think if they played on a neutral site for a bowl game Auburn wins. That said, the two teams are very similar in their balance of pass and run/ offense and defense and it speaks to the overall quality of the SEC even in a year where the conference was not contending in any real way for the MNC at any time in the season.

Stranko: Auburn’s ranking (with regard to Georgia) is an interesting case. Given that Auburn beat UGA (on the road), it’s generally a no-brainer that you put Auburn on top. But, when you consider that UGA beat the two teams that beat Auburn—and, really, beat the shit out of one of them—it gets a little trickier. I think Auburn and UGA are pretty much equals, and if they played you’d get another 31-30 or something like it.

But in terms of deserving the higher ranking, I’d go with Georgia—especially when you consider that while Auburn lost both of their games flat-out (although, obviously, they could have won the LSU game), Georgia really wasn’t themselves for the Florida game, with no DJ (no disrespect intended, UF played better and deserved to win).

But, I can see where you’re coming from and certainly a strong case can be made for your position.

I agree that it is an interesting case… had Georgia not won so convincingly in the SEC championship game, I would not have really entertained the argument, but they did. Also, an argument can be made that you should get extra credit (all things being equal or close thereto) for being a champion. So I could be convinced.

Hate to break it you gentlemen but Auburn is clearly the best team in the SEC. They threw their first game against Ga Tech to protest getting shafted out of last seasons national championship game. Then, they took the chivalrous route in the LSU game and allowed the hurricane victims to win. Beating a Katrina savaged LSU team is like beating a sack full of puppies. Guess no one told Georgia that though. We were supposed to let LSU win it all so ESPN could do a made for TV movie called “Katrina and Les Miles: Destruction and Resurrection.” UGA messed it up for everyone. Now the movie will be subtitled “Destruction and Destruction.” And no, this post isn’t coming from someone with a pro Auburn slant, I’m a Bear Bryant era Bama Boy (thats alliteration) and I bleed Crimson through and through. Damned if I say it though, but WAR EAGLE!

Solon, you say Auburn “flat-out” lost the blemishes on its regular season and Georgia wasn’t itself vs. Florida. You don’t think a new QB throwing several interceptions in the second half had anything to do with Auburn’s loss to Tech? And Auburn doesn’t get any credit for defeating Georgia in the Bulldogs’ own stadium just a few weeks ago?

UGA defeated both teams that defeated Auburn, yes. But LSU defeated both teams that defeated Georgia. So Saturday night proved that method of determining superiority doesn’t necessarily hold up. Ranking Auburn ahead of Georgia isn’t a “trap.” It’s something that can just as easily be argued for as it can be against. Mark Richt voted the same as Stranko, putting Auburn one spot ahead of Georgia.

Steve: My initial argument was against the default attitude that if Team A beats Team B, Team A goes ahead of them in the polls. Stranko’s response indicated that he isn’t doing this; he has stated that he believes Auburn would beat Georgia if they played again, which is why he ranked them ahead of them in the first place. To be honest, I’m not sure I’d argue against this; obviously, I rank teams by a different standard (where a major component is rewarding for performance, and not just for ability).

Certainly, you are spot-on about Auburn perhaps not being itself against GT, although I would argue that it is more a product of RB Irons not playing much as opposed to QB Cox not playing well (it was his first start, yes—but it was at home, and in any event, GT has a great D and those INTs aren’t really a surprise, even in retrospect). But Irons was available against GT, and DJ wasn’t against UF—and if the coaches couldn’t figure out what a stud they had on the bench, it’s certainly something I’d hold against Auburn.

But, Auburn’s win over Georgia was pretty fortunate. They scored 17 of their 31 points on (1) a defensive TD (after a fumble by a FB, no less), (2) a TD on a 1-play drive after a fumble on a PR, and (3) a FG after a 61-yard pass on a 4th and 10. I’m not discounting how impressive the performance was—no team should ever have to apologize for a win on the road against a legitimate opponent, however it’s managed (LSU against ASU, for example)—but, I’d say all things considered, the fact that Auburn won the game doesn’t warrant ranking them ahead of Georgia (given their performance against LSU).

South Carolina is sort of the anti-LSU in this discussion.

Lets not forget the Auburn kicker missed 77,344,866,842,917 field goals during the LSU game.

Hey, Larry, we just sacked Brodie Croyle. That joke never gets old.

Don’t forget Arkansas—DJ or no DJ, at home Georgia should have handled them easily, especially since it was 7-0 when he went out.

LSU beat Auburn, Auburn beat UGA, UGA beat LSU. I ca see the arguments on either side for UGA or Auburn, not so much LSU. That said: all have two losses. But one of UGA’s losses came without the starting QB (and heart of their offense). Their other came in his first game back. Meanwhile, UGA has 10 wins versus Division 1-A opposition, LSU has 9, Auburn has 8, so their records in my book are 10-2, 9-2, and 8-2, respectively. Add the fact that in their mini round-robin, UGA had both the best win and best loss, and I’d give the edge to the Dawgs. And before Auburn fans attack (which would actually make a truly fascinating reality show), I’ll concede that it’s a slight edge.

Solon, I didn’t know 14-7 was beating the hell out of a team? Thanks for catching me up to date!

None of these UGA is better than Auburn arguments make a GD bit of sense. If Georgia was better than Auburn, then why did Georgia lose to Auburn? Was the day of the Auburn victory “Opposite Day?” This is the 1300lb gorilla in the room that no Dawg fan wants to address.

Kevin—got to read the whole comment, my man:

(clearly Georgia did not beat the hell out of Tech, but I’m overdramatizing for effect)

Just fucking about. But they did beat the hell out of LSU.

LG—don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for Auburn. But just because a team beats another team, it doesn’t mean that the winner is better (particularly when it’s a game like the UGA-Auburn game was this season).

And, when you consider (as irishdevil mentioned above) that when you add LSU to the mix, you’ve got a three-team round-robin where all the teams are 1-1 against each other, you can argue that it’s just as crazy for Auburn to be ranked above LSU—although, if they were, it’d be crazy to argue that LSU should be ranked above Georgia, etc., etc. Someone’s got to be first of the three, and someone’s got to be last, and in whichever order you choose, someone’s going to have a beef because they’ll have beaten a team ahead of them head-to-head.

Personally, I think all the talk about Auburn currently being the best team in the SEC is a little over the top. They beat UGA in an extremely close game, and then beat ‘Bama at home pretty handily. That’s really it—I mean, the wins over UK and Ole Miss don’t factor into the equation, and neither does the loss to LSU (given that UGA smoked them).

I think UGA’s wins over GT (on the road) and dismantling of LSU at a “neutral” site are more impressive than Auburn’s closing stretch, especially when you consider that (1) the UGA-Auburn game showed the two teams are near equals (I mean, it wasn’t Miami-VT, for fuck’s sake), and (2) GT and LSU beat Auburn earlier in the season.

Umm, Larry, I did address it, but unlike you I also addressed Auburn’s loss to LSU. By your logic LSU is better than Auburn. If LSU isn’t better than Auburn, then why did Auburn lose to LSU? Was that day “Opposite Day?” And if LSU is better than Auburn, and Auburn is better than UGA, then why did UGA just beat the piss out of LSU? That wouldn’t make a GD bit of sense.

If we were ranking who was better four Saturdays ago, well, then Auburn was clearly better; they won (on the road, no less). But most of the people in this thread are ranking an entire season, in which case UGA has just as strong an argument as Auburn to be more highly ranked (and in my opinion, slightly stronger).

Of course, as a Notre Dame fan, you’re more than welcome to concede the 1993 national championship should have gone to the Irish, since they beat FSU and finished with the same record. Or closer to home, how ‘bout you finally renounce that 1973 national championship ’Bama fans disingenuously claim despite the fact that the Irish beat you head-to-head in the Sugar Bowl? Or the 1941 “championship” claimed despite the fact that the Tide (8-2) got shut out in losses to both Mississippi State (8-1-1) and Vanderbilt (8-2), and both MSU and Vandy finished with either the same or better record? Or the 1964 title when a 10-1 ’Bama lost to a 10-1 Texas? Or the 1978 crown your 11-1 squad supposedly won despite losing to a 12-1 USC at home? Please, enlighten me; those are four very large gorillas I’ve yet to hear an Alabama fan address.

Irishdevil, stop—if they address those, then ‘Bama fans can’t spend time working on their argument to claim THIS year’s NC.

Our 12 National Championships are undisputed fact. I’m above even debating the issue. Its is treason and heresy to question Alabama football greatness.

By the way, we won the second half of that Auburn game. We also won the first half of the LSU game. Given this, I’d say yes, there is an argument to be made that we should be national champs. But, I’ll save it for another day.

But, Auburn’s win over Georgia was pretty fortunate. They scored 17 of their 31 points on (1) a defensive TD (after a fumble by a FB, no less), (2) a TD on a 1-play drive after a fumble on a PR, and (3) a FG after a 61-yard pass on a 4th and 10.

Solon, you do realize, when Georgia fumbled and Auburn ran it in for a TD to make the score 28-27, Georgia had the ball as a result of an Auburn fumble two plays earlier on the Georgia 11, right? Auburn had begun that drive on its own 7. Was it fortunate for Auburn that Georgia fumbled? About as fortunate as it was for Georgia when Auburn fumbled on the UGA 11.

Steve: Yes, that was pretty fortunate for Georgia. Of course, what you are describing is something that had a net effect of 7 points (i.e., assuming Auburn scores a TD instead of fumbling, they score 7 of the points that I would characterize as ‘fortunate’). The other ‘fortunate’ points are still out there, and in a 1-point game every little thing matters.

As I’ve said about a million times on this thread, it was a good win (as opposed to a cheap win) and Auburn deserved to win the game—but they weren’t so dominant that they should, as some sort of default mechanism, warrant a higher ranking than Georgia on account of their win in that game—given all of the other variants, one of which being that, really, anytime you have to convert a 4th and 10 on your final drive to set up the game winning points, on that alone you should consider yourself pretty fortunate.

Solon,

How should we view converting 4th and 10 on the final drive: Auburn being fortunate (or good), or UGA being unfortunate (or bad)? Also, the one-play TD drive after the Flowers fumble was A 30-YARD REVERSE, not exactly a slam-dunk from inside the five or anything. And let’s not forget that one of UGA’s TD’s was off an interception.

Bottom line: Auburn scored 4 TD’s and a FG, UGA scored 3 TD’s and 3 FG’s, and Auburn held the ball for seven minutes more than UGA. Let’s not characterize those kind of stats as a fortunate win.

I will admit, Auburn was QUITE FORTUNATE that we keep the ball inside the 10-yd line and burn the 1:45 off the clock. Of course, I also like our chances being up 35-30 with 1:52 to go.