The Idaho Vandals: Bowl Eligible?!?

Let me hopefully be one of the first people to congratulate the Idaho Vandals for becoming bowl eligible just seven weeks into the college football year. Idaho is 6-1 and 3-0 in the WAC. They also have five more games to improve their record even more, but even if they don’t win one more game they have had their best season in a decade. To explain how bad they were the last decade let me list their season records for you.
2002: 2-10
2003: 3-9
2004: 3-9
2005: 2-9
2006: 4-8
2007: 1-11
2008: 2-10
Their best record was a 4-8. Their last and only bowl appearance was in the Humanitarian Bowl in 1998 where they defeated the Southern Miss Golden Eagles 42-35. A 6-6 record this year will probably not secure a bowl bid for the Vandals. They would at least need one more win to have a chance at a bowl, and with games remaining with Boise State, Nevada, and Louisiana Tech they might have some trouble winning that seventh game. They do get Utah State who is pretty terrible, but that one may be tough too. But in a week were Florida, Bama, and Texas struggled I thought it might be fun to recognize a team that is really overachieving. Congratulations to the 2009-10 Idaho Vandals, the world wants to see you in a bowl game.

The Word Of The Day Is "Demoralized"

Auburn just finished up a dismal home game performance against Kentucky, losing 21-14. The Tigers had 311 yards of offense, but the sieve that is out defense let Kentucky streak us for 367 yards, 292 of which were rushing. God help our depleted defense when we have to face Alabama and Mark Ingram in the Iron Bowl.

With today's loss to the third worst team in the SEC, Auburn now takes a significant step towards challenging Georgia as the most demoralized team in the SEC. Ted Roof's defense looked pathetic against Arkansas, and possibly even worse against Kentucky (I would assume, since it was on ESPNU and I don't get that channel).

Frankly, I can't blame Roof and Chizik for all of the problems, as our defense is thinner than the Filo dough that my mom uses to make Baclava. Due to all kinds of fun reasons (mostly Tubberville recruits not being able to get into school) our defense is so thin that our head coach and DC are afraid to blitz. Anyone. Apparently even Kentucky.

The offense had another game filled with miscues, poor performance, and key penalties to help the other team at just the right time. Chris Todd had no success, going 10/24 with 82 yards and one interception. The one bright spot of the game was Ben Tate's 131 rushing yards with 1 TD, but overall the stagnant offense couldn't make anything happen.

So welcome to the second half of the season, Auburn fans. We have a lot of positives, especially the new coaching staff, but our lack of depth and talent is starting to show in a bad way, and the last 5 games are going to be rough. Give this coaching staff a few more recruiting classes, pray that we can recruit a top notch QB, O-Line, D-Line, and all the other positions that we're hurting at, and we'll be back competing for the SEC West in a few years. I would say "at least we're not Mississippi State", but we lost to frickin Kentucky, and it's going to take a hell of an effort from my Tigers for the rest of the season to erase the sting of that loss.

Auburn’s Opponents Are “Turrible”

By my own admission, I am a masochistic sports addict, which in the state of Alabama means that I listen to WJOX sports talk radio on a (too) regular basis. While you can occasionally hear intelligent discussion on this station, it is usually drowned out by the trailer dwelling mouth breathers screaming about “Bammers” this and “Barners” that.

The Bama/Auburn Homer/Hater (depending on which team you support) and WJOX radio personality Paul Finebaum wrote in an article published today that “West Virginia (3-1) is the only team with a winning record that Auburn has beaten” and “When you add up to the record of Auburn's five opponents, the combined mark is 9-14.” This is a valid point, but without the context of the other top teams in the country, it is a very misleading statement. For example, the number 3 team in the country (who should probably be number 1), Alabama, boasts an overall opponent record of 9-12, with just one team, Virginia Tech, with a winning record. Oddly, Mr. Finebaum failed to mention this, or was unaware of it. I’m not saying Alabama isn’t good (they are), but I am pointing out that Finebaum’s argument doesn’t hold water, at least not when compared to other teams.

To compare apples to apples, here is a look at a few of the top teams in football, judged by the same standard that was placed on Auburn:

#1 Florida (4–0) Opponents' Record (8–10) No Opp. w/ winning record

#2 Texas (4–0) Opponents' Record(11–9) LA Monroe/Wyoming/Tex Tech(3-2)

#3 Alabama (5–0) Opponents' Record (9–12) Virginia Tech (4-1)

#4 LSU (5–0) Opponents' Record (11–13) Georgia (3-2)

#5 VT (4–1) Opponents' Record (16–7) AL(5-0), Marsh(3-2), Nebr/Miami(3-1)

#6 Boise St. (5–0) Opponents' Record (7–16) Oregon (4-1)

#7 USC (4–1) Opponents' Record (11–13) Ohio St (4-1), Cal (3-2)

#8 Cincinnati (5–0) Opponents' Record (8–15) Rutgers(3-1), Oreg. St(3-2)

#9 Ohio St. (4–1) Opponents' Record (14–10) USC(4-1), Navy/Illinois/Ind.(3-2)

#10 TCU (4–0) Opponents' Record (7–10) No Opp. w/ winning record

This is why it is absurd to rank teams at this point in the season, and even more ridiculous to rank them in the pre-season. USC has no business near the top ten, with a loss to a 2-3 Washington team who had a lot of heart but who aren’t very good (and don’t bring up their Notre Dame game as a defense, as the Irish are beyond bad this year). Ohio State isn’t even the best team in the Big 11 (that title belongs to Iowa at this point) and they also have a loss to USC, who we’ve already covered. The only one loss team who should be near the top ten is Virginia Tech, who played well against a very strong Alabama squad, and who showed resilience against Nebraska, but struggled against Duke.

Our final “durr” ranking comes from Boise State, who beat an inconsistent Oregon team and will play absolutely no one of any substance for the rest of the season, and whose opponents’ combined record is a stunning 7-16, making Alabama look great, and Auburn look decent by comparison. And this is the best hope for a BCS buster? Unfortunately, pre-season and early season rankings are going nowhere, so I’ll move on.

In looking at the top ten teams, especially five games into the season, I feel like there is a strong argument, especially based on Mr. Finebaum’s criteria, that Auburn is a top ten team. Anyone with one loss five games into the season has no business in the top ten. This year, more than most in recent memory, there is very little clarity in the top 25. Outside of Alabama, Florida, and Texas, you could almost throw the other names in the air, put them in random order, and it would still make almost as much sense as it does now.

Ultimately there is one sure way to move up in the rankings, and that is to keep winning. Hopefully Auburn will continue to do so, but the seven games left in the season are going to be significantly more difficult than the first five. And wouldn’t it be amazing if an undefeated Alabama played an undefeated Auburn in the Iron Bowl? It almost surely won’t happen, but if it does, I totally called it.

Auburn Finally Gets Noticed

After putting up a strong performance against a "defensively solid but offensively patheti-sad" Tennessee squad this weekend and moving to an undefeated 5-0 on the season, the Auburn Tigers have vaulted to 17 in the AP polls and 19 in the Coaches Poll, as shown in this artist's rendering using an attractive woman's bum. Please remind my wife that this is entirely football related.

The Tigers' stellar offense under Gus Malzahn turned in another stalwart performance against Monty Kiffin's "stouter than we would have expected" defense. While the score of 26-22 made the game look closer than it actually was, Tennessee's offense was stunningly bad. I refuse to let all of the blame go to Jonathan Crompton on this one. Sure, most of the blame is fine, but not all of it. The receivers dropped perfectly tolerable passes time after time, and the offensive line did little to help out the passing game. If it weren't for RB Montario Hardesty and a TE whose name I'm too lazy to look up, the Volunteers wouldn't have had a single point on the board. Hardesty should get a damn medal for the performance he has turned in against Florida and Auburn. Meanwhile, Eric Berry looked decidely un-Eric Berry-ish in a solid but forgettable performance.

So now Auburn been noticed, even going so far as to making the front page of ESPN as of the time of this post. Now all we have to do is play the hardest part of our schedule, a large portion of which is on the road. The offense is blowing and going, but unless Coach Chizik and Defensive Coordinator Ted Roof get the defense back on track, and find a magic potion to avoid injuries, it's going to get a lot rougher from here on out. This Auburn team has shown something special so far in this season, and with good luck, injury bug repellent, and continued offensive production, we are looking at a season that is going to exceed almost everyone's expectations.