Four straight bowl games

[aubiefifty 17,487]

i saw that comment on another site. they said gus is the first auburn coach to ever do this. i checked guses bowl record to make sure becuase my memory is so bad. i however cannot find out if he is the first auburn coach to do so. does anyone know if this is true? and where can i check for one stop site to check college ball records etc? first legit response to the site gets a like. smiles......i know it is not much but it is all i got  lol

 

and it just seems like when i am ready to jump off the bus i read a little something that makes me think he could turn it around. how long it would take is a different matter tho. but regardless war eagle baby! no nog this morning just good spirits...........

[gravejd 3,281]

maybe the first to do it his first 4 seasons at the school. Bowden was on probation his first year. Dye only won 5 his first, Tuberville took over the Bowden mess so iI think he missed a bowl his first season. So at the very least he is the first to do it in some time which is something to be glad about. 

Man looking at those coaches records made me wonder how similar the AU career of Bowden and Malzahn might actually be. Both came in a won big with teams that underperformed the year before. Then trended downward for the rest of their tenure. If Gus crashes out next year then Bowden would actually be more likely to get the nod as having the better career at AU. Very interesting....

[AuburnSoldier 117]

http://www.auburntigers.com/sports/m-footbl/history_and_tradition_bowls.html

8 straight under Tuberville.

[PigskinPat 2,582]

Another factor is these days, any team with a pulse and 6 wins gets a bowl bid. The bar to make it to a bowl is WAY lower than it was in the past.

[aubaseball 2,714]

This is who cares category.   Teams are getting bowl invites with 5-7 records.   6-6 teams should never get a bowl bid.   

[keesler 5,934]

7 minutes ago, PigskinPat said:

Another factor is these days, any team with a pulse and 6 wins gets a bowl bid. The bar to make it to a bowl is WAY lower than it was in the past.

Hell, MooState's in a bowl at 5-7.

[PigskinPat 2,582]

Just now, keesler said:

Hell, MooState's in a bowl at 5-7.

I was wrong, the bar has fallen to the ground!

[lionheartkc 6,150]

3 minutes ago, keesler said:

Hell, MooState's in a bowl at 5-7.

This... Bowl games are about money, not rewarding teams for a good season. Give it a few more years and every team with a pulse will be in a bowl game.

That being said, we're in one of the few remaining prestigious bowl games, this year, so there is that.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

19 minutes ago, gravejd said:

Man looking at those coaches records made me wonder how similar the AU career of Bowden and Malzahn might actually be. Both came in a won big with teams that underperformed the year before. Then trended downward for the rest of their tenure.

This would be true, except Gus actually trended up this year.  Not as far up as most would like, but this year was an improvement over last year in every category... and actually had play-off potential. 

[ertrader 209]

Pat Dye 9 straight 1982-1990 that streak included 5 straight New Years Day bowls

[msza 228]

We probably would not have made a bowl ten years ago with our record last year.

I do think the Sugar Bowl this year is a significant accomplishment though. I don't like the argument that it's less valuable because we have 4 losses or because 'the SEC is down.'

If I had the time, I'd look at how every team's win percentage this year matches their historical win percentage to see if the SEC really is down, or if the floor has been raised. Teams like Kentucky and Vandy have had good years, and when they start beating the likes of UGA and UT it can be easy to say the SEC is down, but that may not be the case.

I have a feeling that if the conference does well in the bowl season, you'd see that the majority of teams ended up with a higher win percentage on the year than their historical average. FYI at 8-4 we are .667 on the year which exceeds our historical average of .631.

[keesler 5,934]

3 minutes ago, PigskinPat said:

I was wrong, the bar has fallen to the ground!

Indeed - the bar is laying on the ground for sure when a team with a losing record gets what used to be a post-season reward.  Yet, MooState will head to the beautifully sunny & sandy beaches of the St. Petersburg Bowl on Dec 26th.  Hell, that's a much better bowl than the B'ham crap bowl at Legion Field.

[gravejd 3,281]

57 minutes ago, msza said:

We probably would not have made a bowl ten years ago with our record last year.

I do think the Sugar Bowl this year is a significant accomplishment though. I don't like the argument that it's less valuable because we have 4 losses or because 'the SEC is down.'

If I had the time, I'd look at how every team's win percentage this year matches their historical win percentage to see if the SEC really is down, or if the floor has been raised. Teams like Kentucky and Vandy have had good years, and when they start beating the likes of UGA and UT it can be easy to say the SEC is down, but that may not be the case.

I have a feeling that if the conference does well in the bowl season, you'd see that the majority of teams ended up with a higher win percentage on the year than their historical average. FYI at 8-4 we are .667 on the year which exceeds our historical average of .631.

I don't think you'll find a lot of AU fans excited about any bowls as long as we are losing to Bama and UGA every year. 3 years in a row of losing to them and 2 years in a row of losing to terrible UGA teams makes it very hard for me to get excited about AU football. Though I am really glad the players get to go out with a bang. Should we beat Oklahoma the season will go from "meh" to "ok" for me. But even with a sugar bowl win this will be a season i'd rather move on from. I don't know for sure but i imagine must AU fans feel about the same. 

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

Time to give Gus a lifetime contract. 

[Gibson SG 88]

1 hour ago, lionheartkc said:

This would be true, except Gus actually trended up this year.  Not as far up as most would like, but this year was an improvement over last year in every category... and actually had play-off potential. 

Bowden trended up the year before he was let go too.  Remember, he was 20-1-1 his first two years.  Then he went backwards in 95 & 96.  But, in 97, he won the SEC West and had a 10 win season.  Then, in 98, he crashed and burned.  Tater Tot and Gus are so similar in performance it is almost scary.

[Tiger 8,835]

47 minutes ago, Gibson SG said:

Bowden trended up the year before he was let go too.  Remember, he was 20-1-1 his first two years.  Then he went backwards in 95 & 96.  But, in 97, he won the SEC West and had a 10 win season.  Then, in 98, he crashed and burned.  Tater Tot and Gus are so similar in performance it is almost scary.

Amazing what happens when you have a good QB compared to when you don't. Sophomore year Ben Leard damn sure wasn't junior/senior level Leard.

[OnthePlains 2,014]

1 hour ago, gravejd said:

I don't think you'll find a lot of AU fans excited about any bowls as long as we are losing to Bama and UGA every year. 3 years in a row of losing to them and 2 years in a row of losing to terrible UGA teams makes it very hard for me to get excited about AU football. Though I am really glad the players get to go out with a bang. Should we beat Oklahoma the season will go from "meh" to "ok" for me. But even with a sugar bowl win this will be a season i'd rather move on from. I don't know for sure but i imagine must AU fans feel about the same. 

I would have thought the same as you but spending time on this board makes me wonder how many actually do feel the same. 

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

I don't have a problem with so many bowls. These kids work hard all year. Bowl games are fun for them. They get to go some place . They get to participate in a lot of fun things. They usually visit children's hospitals and enjoy fellowship with other players. While the big bowls are still business I assure you the teams still enjoy the social time. Also the get about $500 worth of cool gifts. Remember these are young people. I wouldn't care if they had enough bowls for every D1 team to get to go to so all these young guys can enjoy it after a hard year of work. WDE

[doc4aday 1,887]

34 minutes ago, Tiger said:

Amazing what happens when you have a good QB compared to when you don't. Sophomore year Ben Leard damn sure wasn't junior/senior level Leard.

Tot did not win a NC and play for another one. Gus was not the HC in 2010, but without his tenure as the OC, chances are we would not have won the NC in 2010. Sure we had Cam, but Gus' offense was the difference maker that season.

[steeleagle 2,945]

3 hours ago, AuburnSoldier said:

http://www.auburntigers.com/sports/m-footbl/history_and_tradition_bowls.html

8 straight under Tuberville.

The record he is referencing is 'first AU coach in his first 4 years'. No other AU coach has started his career here with 4 straight.

[Tiger 8,835]

4 minutes ago, doc4aday said:

Tot did not win a NC and play for another one. Gus was not the HC in 2010, but without his tenure as the OC, chances are we would not have won the NC in 2010. Sure we had Cam, but Gus' offense was the difference maker that season.

I'm not understanding the relevance of your reply to my post. My point was, essentially, that the dumbest coaches can look great with good QB play, and the greatest can look terrible with poor QB play.

[ToomersStreet 795]

4 hours ago, gravejd said:

maybe the first to do it his first 4 seasons at the school. Bowden was on probation his first year. Dye only won 5 his first, Tuberville took over the Bowden mess so iI think he missed a bowl his first season. So at the very least he is the first to do it in some time which is something to be glad about. 

Man looking at those coaches records made me wonder how similar the AU career of Bowden and Malzahn might actually be. Both came in a won big with teams that underperformed the year before. Then trended downward for the rest of their tenure. If Gus crashes out next year then Bowden would actually be more likely to get the nod as having the better career at AU. Very interesting....

Are you a prophet?

[doc4aday 1,887]

3 hours ago, Tiger said:

I'm not understanding the relevance of your reply to my post. My point was, essentially, that the dumbest coaches can look great with good QB play, and the greatest can look terrible with poor QB play.

Not meant to be bad whatsoever. I am saying that that Gus did a better job overall than Bowden did over the terms of their  careers at Auburn. Bowden was an awful recruiter and this eventually did him in. His career has been pretty good since he left Auburn. I enjoyed the 21-1 stretch as much as any Auburn fan. Gus has to have a solid QB to make his offense work. We all pretty much know this. SW is not a true dual threat QB, but can run when he has to. He is a very smart QB that I wished could have had better health this past season. With a healthy Bubba and SW for the entire season could have turned into something special. The QB can make or break any team.

 

I hope you understand where I am coming from and I enjoy your posts. I like to have good friends on this site and try to make this happen. Take care my friend and keep the good posts coming!

 

WDC,

Doc

[milehighfan 1,240]

10 hours ago, PigskinPat said:

Another factor is these days, any team with a pulse and 6 wins gets a bowl bid. The bar to make it to a bowl is WAY lower than it was in the past.

Yeah, ask moo state.

[FASTCOMPANY 394]

18 hours ago, WarDamnEagleWDE said:

Time to give Gus a lifetime contract. 

I think you forgot something....