AURex

With Washington joining the Big10 and Texas joining the SEC, it's kinda like two Big10 teams beat two SEC teams and will play each other for the natty.

I don't think Illinois will be a final four contender this year. They just lost their superstar guard arrested for rape. We will see how they play without him when Illinois butts heads with Purdue this weekend.

The last time an SEC team was not playing for the national championship in football was the 2014 season when Oregon lost to Ohio State on January 12, 2015. Every year since then, at least one SEC team has played in the national championship game. It was a rarity even going back into the BCS era. The most recent BCS championship game that did not include an SEC team was the 2004 season when Auburn got left out and the game was between USC and Oklahoma. That game was played January 4, 2005. That's quite a track record of football dominance over the past two decades. I wonder if this might change beginning next season, with the pending big conference realignments and 12 teams in the playoff.

I expected Bama to win, but I hate Bama and hate Harbaugh as well, so I don't really give a stinky dump who win the game. That said, the officiating was truly terrible. Both ways. UM OL was holding on pretty much 50% of plays. Bama tackled a UM ball carrier way out of bounds. No calls either way. This game was won/lost by refs. Bama did not deserve to be in the CFP and it took OT for a mediocre Michigan team to get past them. Now let's see whether the Big Penile can lead doggies past the longhorns.

You did not really address the questions I asked, you just regurgitated some stats. But okay, if that's all you got ..........

It's time for the College Football Playoff. #1 Michigan vs #4 Bama #2 Washington vs #3 Texas Who ya got? Personally, I think the two higher ranked teams are going down. I think the final will be a Bama vs Texas rematch.

Okay, so Kelly is supposed to be a spectacular recruiter. FSU? Well, FSU recruits 5 star and 4 star players like candy on Halloween. Colorado? Was it him or Prime that attracted these players? And welp, how did his great recruiting on defense pay off in terms of actual coaching for Colorado - a terrible defensive team? I don't know the answer to these questions. I'm asking because I *know* McGriff was a very good recruiter and Kelly is stepping in to fill his shoes. And I think there were some real issues between McGriff and Roberts leading up to this. Whatcha got?

So FSU had a group of guys opt out and others injured. Team spirit maybe was low after being left out of the CFP final four. But here is a team, that claims they deserved to be in the Playoff and here's there chance to prove their point, and they don't show up, they get totally slaughtered, embarrassed, beat into a bloody spot on the field. UGA didn't even have to work or try. Afterwards, Kirby said in a post-game interview that "something needs to be done about this." Well, I'm curious, who is going to do the "something" and what exactly are they going to do? Can schools withhold NIL with the requirement that players participate in bowl games, then they get paid their NIL afterwards? Not exactly a recruiting bonanza, I think. Can schools offer a bonus, over NIL, for players who participate in bowl games? Will players care if they think they are NFL-bound if the bonus is not gigantic? I'm just curious what "something" Kirby thinks should be done. Notably, he never said.

Just trying to read the comments of CHF. 1. Auburn is not looking at the portal for another QB, we are happy with the guys we have in the QB room. 2. The QB competition for next season is 100% open. Now I'm thinking this messaging is aimed at keeping our current QBs from jumping into the portal. We saw what happened at Penn State when Franklin was open about going after Cam -- Cody jumped immediately. But Freeze also snuck in a phrase about -- unless the right guy is available. The way I interpret this is, if a QB enters the portal who really fits the Auburn offense, Freeze would go for him. I'm thinking that one guy would be Liberty QB Kaidon Salter. Freeze recruited him at Liberty. They run a similar offense. Players must enter the portal by Jan 2. (They can sign anytime after that or return to their team.) If Salter enters the portal, I'd bet Freeze goes after him. But if Brown gets a fair look in the run-up to next season, we might see an alternative to Thorne. And with a new crop of elite receivers, there might be an inkling of optimism.

So, I guess the obvious question after crapping the bed vs Maryland is -- Is CHF really CGM2. Because the team certainly was not prepared to play the Terps.

Yes, of course, we expect Bama and UGA. But we also get Missouri and Kentucky and Oklahoma in the next season. Thankfully we do not have to play Ole Miss!

It's obvious the College Football Playoff committee made the right decision to omit FSU from the final four. IMO UGA is a better team than Washington and probably Texas as well. But it would have been crazy controversial to put UGA in the final four.

Missouri had a great season, and yep, we get them next season.

I've been thinking the same thing. OSU is totally out of it offensively, but Missouri not even trying. The coaching and play calling is truly barf-inducing. If Missouri loses this game, given the circumstances, they deserve the name "Misery."

Ohio State down to their 3rd string QB with no experience. But WTF is Missouri doing? Just running the ball up the middle into the teeth of the OSU defense. Where is that dangerous Tiger offense. They aren't even trying. Plus the refs are very OBVIOUSLY on the OSU payroll. Not calling holding, not calling fumble, etc. Given the circumstances, Missouri should be in a great position to win this game, but squandering field position and opportunities.

The turnovers by UK certainly hurt, but it looked to me like the UK defense was also just gassed by the 4th quarter. They weren't getting to their QB as frequently or as quickly, and the DBs were being outplayed by the Clemson receivers more than earlier in the game. The momentum shifted, Clemson's intensity increased. I was really disappointed, but I actually was surprised how well UK played for most of the game.

I just watched the Alamo Bowl. Arizona vs Oklahoma. The stadium was full and it was a really interesting game. Oklahoma will be a tough game for us next season. Are there too many bowl games? All these games between 6-6 and 7-5 teams (ahem .. cough .. cough .. ahem) do not attract big TV audiences. But just because I don't want to watch X vs Y does not mean there is no audience. And it doesn't mean the bowls should not exist. By this reasoning, the Music City Bowl should not exist and Auburn should not be playing in a bowl game. As for the playoff system, nobody is *obligated* to watch the games. So don't. Personally, I will.

As always, my Christmas tradition with wifey is to watch The Hogfather -- a British 2 part miniseries (totaling more than 3 hours) made from the Terry Pratchett novel in his Discworld series -- an alter-Christmas-y spin featuring a bunch of British luminaries -- David Janson, David Warner, Michelle Dockery, Ian McKellan, etc. Great fun and not the least bit sappy. If I never hear another Christmas song in my life, if I never see another Christmas movie in my life, I will die happy. My comment is intended to express that not everyone celebrates Christmas the same way around the world or even here in the U.S. I've lived all over the U.S. and have enjoyed the Christmas traditions of the Amish, the Quakers, the Midwestern Swedish St Lucia and Dutch, French-inspired Cajun/Creole, German/Euro Krampus who gives gifts to good children but chases and punishes naughty children (many are punished), etc. And in that spirit, I'll mention (with no detail) the Christmas tradition of sexual orgies that begin on Christmas Eve and conclude on New Years Day. Bowl games? Save to your video library. hahaha

Personally, I do not give a squat drop about Deion Luwynn Sanders. I am VERY glad Auburn did not hire him. That said, I am glad to see him succeed at UC. I will not be watching their games I never watched any this year. But I hope he does well going forward.

Frankly, IMO, Auburn can't do any better than this right now. And maybe not for a long rime. But CHF and his staff have really bombed it! The goal -- Pull in the best players yu can get and coach em up. What a great first class for CHF and his staff.

Waiting to see if Auburn can beat any decent team. Sorry, I love my Tigers. But to date, they played only one ranked team (Baylor) and lost. As for every other team ....... waiting. I love my Auburn Tigers BB, but so far I have not seen greatness.

If he jumps, I wish him well. I don't think he has earned the NFL cred, but I wish the best for him if he decides to go pro.. We got guys ready to step up. I'm not concerned about Auburn at RB.

Scumbag Harbaugh is the culprit in the NCAA Notice of Allegations for impermissible recruiting activity and impermissible on-field coaching. The NCAA is conducting another investigation into systematic impermissible scouting activities. The University has tried to mitigate penalties by suspending Harbaugh for a total of 6 games this season, but his butt is burnt. He will likely leave for the NFL, leaving UM with a bunch of penalties imposed ---- IF the toothless NCAA ever gets around to actually penalizing anyone for anything. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/39156339/michigan-receives-ncaa-notice-allegations-recruiting-violations

The Baylor oss the first game of the season was not a drag on AU. The App St loss might have been overlooked. But fact is, Auburn just has not played that tough a schedule yet. Purdue lost to Northwestern, but beat other top tier teams and beat #1 Arizona. Kentucky and Tennessee with multiple losses, but they've played ranked teams week after week. Auburn is not going to get much attention until -- IF -- we beat some ranked teams in SEC conference play. Auburn has the talent, and they are playing pretty good ball right now. JB has disappeared, but others have stepped up. Cardwell and Williams, and our two PGs are playing great. Depth is a real strength. KD is a wildcard -- dynamic and crazoid and he drives defenses crazy, but he drives me crazy too because he makes a lot of mistakes as well. Now entering SEC play, Auburn needs to step up as a team, 10 deep, and establish that we are, in fact, a top 25 team.