Not much going on in the blogosphere this week. All we have is a couple of basketball games to cover and hopefully the final two assistant coach hires (seriously, it's been two months, what's the hold up?).While searching for something -- anything -- to blog, I came across ESPN SEC blogger Chris Low's pre-spring power rankings. Tough to debate Florida-Alabama going 1-2, but Auburn comes in at ... No. 11. Ouch. That's behind Tennessee, Kentucky and Vanderbilt.
Here's his analysis:
11. Auburn: The firestorm that surrounded Gene Chizik's hiring at Auburn has quieted ... for now. He's put together a quality staff, and the Tigers did a nice job in recruiting. Now the hard part begins -- taking it to the field and improving on last season's 5-7 record. That starts with implementing Gus Malzhan's spread offense. It's no secret that Tony Franklin's spread wasn't a big hit a year ago on the Plains. Much of the pressure will fall on quarterback Kodi Burns, who struggled mightily last season. The Tigers hope junior college receiver DeAngelo Benton can add some immediate firepower on offense. Losing tackle Sen'Derrick Marks early to the NFL was a blow defensively, but the Tigers did hold onto end Antonio Coleman.Now, I'll add that I don't think Auburn was anywhere near as bad as its 5-7 record last year. The Vanderbilt and Arkansas losses can pretty much be directly blamed on the coaching staff's immature handling of the Tony Franklin fiasco. And while Chizik and Malzahn certainly have some major work to do on offense, I don't think it's a completely dire situation.
And honestly, I don't know how Auburn's situation is too different from Tennessee next season. Both have new coaches who have never really won anything as the head guy and both have enormous questions to answer at quarterback. In fact, Low's analysis of both teams is almost identical. Yet the Vols are ranked eighth. Interesting.
3 comments:
That's fine, Auburn often has better seasons when it is the preseason underdog.
But seriously... Vandy and Kentucky? I think Auburn should at least be able to pull together a bowl game next season, longshot as usual for those other 2 schools. And everybody's jumping on the Ole Miss bandwagon after one good season, even though I like Huston Nutt a little, give me a break, can you say one-year-wonder? I also predict that the honeymoon will quickly come to and end for Petrino in Arkansas (he's a fraud), and Spurrier has got to be thinking about retirement, he hasn't had much success over there, even in recruiting surprisingly.
.....According to my records, Kentucky had the same SEC record Auburn did, with a LOT easier non-con schedule.
.....I think Petrino is a good offensive coach, but he's in a difficult recruiting position. He's got to tune up a pretty much new quarterback. If he continues to post defenses like last year's Arky bunch, and those he had a Louisville, he won't last.
.....Like it or not, quarterback is an Auburn issue, too. We CANNOT. CANNOT!!! dither this offseason away, there! They need to select THE GUY, before the end of spring camp, and GET HIM AS MANY REPS AS POSSIBLE!
Low is a homer, that's it. I wrote him an email back during the Chizik hire, and inquired as to why he had neglected to cover Auburn AT ALL during this period. I was very critical of him in this email, as well as some other media-types like Finescum. This was four or five days after the Chizik hire, and he had not posted a thing regarding this. While, at the same time, praising UT for their hire of an unproven, silver spoon in Kiffin. He chose to publish my email on his blog, but redacted every critical element of my email. He is a pure homer, and you would think that ESPN could find someone, ANYONE, better.
Mr. Bitter, on the other hand, you have done an excellent job in your short time on the job, and seem to have adjusted well. I enjoy your work, and appreciate the time that you put in. A little independent, well developed analysis is always nice. Keep up the good work.
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