So if we aren't playing them who do we play that last game? I don't really care if we play them or not but a win against them may not help us some years, but a win against a lesser team could actually hurt us in SOS/perception.
SEC reallignment - Moving Season?
- Thread starter CrimSonami
- Start date
If I recall, in 2011 they were 8-4,and that's the best record they've had when we went to the national championship. If they move to the east, we could easily have LSU be our finale since they are dying to have a rival. The point is the Iron Bowl is a game that Auburn must win to stay relevant and a game we can't afford to lose in order to avoid embarrassment.
Texas won't do it for the same reason that notre dame won't, they just don't want to share or lose control of the money flow. Plus Bama, aTm,and UF will fight like heck to prevent the burnt cow from even sniffing over east. Oklahoma I've harped on enough so I won't unless some convincing evidence of why it's a good idea other than their football prestige.
If they moved to the East and the Iron Bowl was discontinued on an annual basis, you could literally plug in any other conference opponent.
I don't get Alabama fans being wed to this game. It's not even a nationally relevant game unless one or both teams are in the hunt for a championship and most times that's us, a few times its been them, and very rarely has it been both teams at the same time.
Again, I say if college football continues to thrive despite losing rivalries such as Nebraska/OU, Texas/Texas A&M, Missouri/Kansas, Pitt/WVU, Penn State/Pitt, Utah/BYU, Notre Dame/Michigan, and probably a few others I'm forgetting, then it can thrive without Alabama/Auburn. Alabama can definitely thrive without Auburn. We don't need them for recruiting purposes. We don't need them for media exposure. We don't need them to bolster ticket sales. Auburn literally needs Alabama on its schedule in order to sell out its season ticket packages.
Losing the game would hurt them pretty badly and that's why it probably wouldn't ever happen. But let's not pretend Alabama needs this game to thrive.
You are right they were 7-4 going into that game. In 2014, they were 8-3 coming into the game. Both years, they were just an opponent we had to beat to stay alive. No different than in 2009, 2012, and last year when they were mediocre to awful.
How could Baylor and TCU be better "profit" than OU? Do you really think that anyone more than 50 miles from Waco or Ft Worth give a damn about Baylor and TCU? OU is a National brand and they will get good numbers from the TV viewers every time they play. That's why the networks put them on so often, they are a blue blood and blue bloods attract a lot of attention, which translates into more advertising dollars from the networks. Or am I missing something?
TE, I agree to this point. But I think we're kidding ourselves when we say the game doesn't matter, when it actually matters way too much -- given that the pain in losing it is excruciating.
Been trying to stay out of this one, since it typifies why I hate the off-season.
But................
Moving API, to the East, and replacing the game with another rotating cross-division team* would serve API right for insisting the Iron Bowl being moved from the remains of what was Legion Field, to a home-and-home series. (OK, as much I would love to place all of the blame on API, one has to admit that thanks to B'ham/JeffCo, that it would have eventually happened.) Their constant whining was grating. But, that is the norm for them.
Let's be honest: it is not truly the Iron Bowl, any longer. It is now just the last game of the season, against a team none of us can stand. That spends 364 days prepping on how they can ruin our season. Tine to turn the tables, and ruin their prime directive.
* = assumes a lot of things that most likely will never happen, and some other things that make even less sense. It is the off-season.
But................
FIFY, as API is used to coming out on the losing end. As they should be.
Moving API, to the East, and replacing the game with another rotating cross-division team* would serve API right for insisting the Iron Bowl being moved from the remains of what was Legion Field, to a home-and-home series. (OK, as much I would love to place all of the blame on API, one has to admit that thanks to B'ham/JeffCo, that it would have eventually happened.) Their constant whining was grating. But, that is the norm for them.
Let's be honest: it is not truly the Iron Bowl, any longer. It is now just the last game of the season, against a team none of us can stand. That spends 364 days prepping on how they can ruin our season. Tine to turn the tables, and ruin their prime directive.
* = assumes a lot of things that most likely will never happen, and some other things that make even less sense. It is the off-season.
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I'm not really arguing that point. It hurts to lose because they are right next door to us. They are our neighbors, our co-workers, our in-laws, our friends and family. There is no hiding if we lose that game because make no mistake, they are going to obnoxiously rub it in for 364 days and in some cases for eternity (1972, 2010, and 2013 will never be lived down). So its excruciating for those reasons, not because the game holds some kind of distinct national prominence.
Don't get me wrong. I know full well that there are sill t-shirts printed for Alabama every time we win and our fans gobble them up. I know we brag. I know some of us can be obnoxious. And I know Auburn enjoyed winning that NC in 2010 and competing for it in 2013. I also know, that deep down, their wins over us in those seasons will forever be more enjoyable than the SEC titles, or NC wins/games. The same is most definitely not true on our side. I can't think of a single win over Auburn that I enjoyed more than I did the 1993 win against Miami, the 2010 win over Texas, the win over Notre Dame, almost all of the LSU victories in the Nick Saban era, or the win vs. Clemson earlier this year. Nor has any Iron Bowl victory been as satisfying as beating Florida or Georgia in Atlanta for the SEC title.
But perhaps I'm not the typical Alabama fan.
If the barn moves to the East and becomes a rotating opponent, can you imagine having to wait for seven years to avenge a loss?
I think for many, whether we would admit it or not, the joy of winning against Auburn is less than the pain of losing to them.
However, I think we kid ourselves to say the game doesn't matter to people outside of the state of Alabama.
It's a big game on a national stage.
As I've said, I could live without playing them every year, but I think some may be overstating the fact that the game really isn't that important.
However, I think we kid ourselves to say the game doesn't matter to people outside of the state of Alabama.
It's a big game on a national stage.
As I've said, I could live without playing them every year, but I think some may be overstating the fact that the game really isn't that important.
As long as it's not an FCS team, I don't see it as doing any harm at all. Remember, generally speaking Alabama isn't going to the playoff without playing in the SECCG and the SECCG will be the game that leaves a lasting impression. That's one of the main reasons I feel the Auburn game does no good, because generally speaking Alabama still has a bigger game coming up. Of course this other stuff isn't a directly reply to you...
Another thing that should be said is that there's just no way Auburn is going to let Alabama get away from this game being an annual game. If it was no longer annual, you can also bet it would become part of the cry for 9 conference games. So, a lot of my comments exist in the purely hypothetical, what if you could divorce your wife without giving her half your stuff type of scenario. If Alabama could divorce themselves from this game and be done with it, I really think Alabama would be better off. But, do I really see that happening? Nope, the "best" Alabama can likely get is moving Auburn to the East, changing the date of the game and losing UT, not an acceptable deal to me.
It may seem like I'm just mercilessly bashing Auburn because I hate them. And, well truth is I wouldn't mind watching them become starved off. However, part of it was the fact that I spent so much time looking at the conference expansion topic that my views on what constitutes a good rivalry and a good addition changed. I honestly think the SEC could lose Vanderbilt, Miss. State, and Auburn and be better off for it. The factors that make for a good addition, would include the brand, their reach/population, and recruiting territory gained. How much does any of those three schools offer on their own?
So, there was a point in time I looked favorably on Louisville for instance as an addition. But that was back when I viewed it more simply as you add a good sports brand, and if you got an in-state rival it was a bonus. The more I dug around though, the more I became of the opinion that the SEC doesn't need redundancy within states and they are perfectly capable of sustaining strong rivalries with neighboring states. I mean does Tennessee really care more about playing Vanderbilt than they care about playing Alabama?
Not only that, but history has shown us that the SEC can cut ties with schools and the schools themselves are the ones that lose out, not the conference (Tulane and Georgia Tech). I also was struggling to find the loss of playing an in-state team that really seemed to hurt a school that could stand on their own merits. Is Texas A&M hurting after they lost the Texas game for instance? Then, I think one can look at the massive rivalry that is Michigan vs. Ohio State to see how a big rivalry should work. Two large states, creating a game which usually holds massive implications within the entire conference, but even when it doesn't there's enough of a spectacle to keep people interested. That's what Alabama and Tennessee should be, and if we didn't get distracted by Auburn it might be what it could be. In either case, ask yourselves this... why isn't Michigan State the big rival for Michigan? And... if that was the case what could Michigan possibly gain?
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I don't see another Texas team moving the needle for the SEC unless it is Texas. Baylor and TCU would do nothing. I'm not advocating we make a push for Texas to join, I'm just saying.
I agree any other new members need to be from a new state. Florida State or Miami would be a good "name" but I think Florida would veto them.
I don't think Louisville would do all that much and have no idea if Kentucky would want them in.
Someone mentioned North Carolina. I think the Tar Heels think they are above joining us rubes in the SEC and probably wouldn't go anywhere without Duke. NC State would probably benefit a lot from a move, but I'd rather not have a little brother in the league.
I agree any other new members need to be from a new state. Florida State or Miami would be a good "name" but I think Florida would veto them.
I don't think Louisville would do all that much and have no idea if Kentucky would want them in.
Someone mentioned North Carolina. I think the Tar Heels think they are above joining us rubes in the SEC and probably wouldn't go anywhere without Duke. NC State would probably benefit a lot from a move, but I'd rather not have a little brother in the league.
At the moment I'd say LSU 'cuz I think they'll be the strongest over the long haul.
The barn is a dumpster fire and I really don't see them being regularly relevant given the "Lightning in a Bottle" syndrome they've adopted. They just don't have the program structure and historical significance to be a constant power. And never will.
Then why has it always been a bad deal for both sides when it has come to the table. Or better yet, why hasn't OU went independent if they are this great brand? Answer: They can't survive without people's help. If you compare OU and UA the biggest difference is that UA has better in state recruits to live off of. OU is like Nebraska in that they need either a random sprinkle of great in state recruits or needing to invade Texas to do it. The SEC making that deal only benefits OU by giving them a way to fight Texas, but it also probably has the cancer OSU being a part of that deal as well. If the SEC gets TCU, the SEC is firmly in North east Texas. Yes you can say that they are already in east Texas with aTm, but the SEC would pick up another big baseball program and pretty much all of the Dallas market that is left.
If we are talking only in terms of football then yes OU makes sense, but we aren't so there are far better options. I would again say a North Carolina school or two makes far more sense than any of them, but unless OU drops little sister then there is no real reason to aquire them.
This is exactly how I would describe my wife's family with respect this game. When Alabama wins, they express a sigh of relief and start looking toward the next game. No celebration, just relief. When Alabama loses that game, it feels like a family member passed, and this cloud lasts for days.
You cannot even imagine what it was like from November 27, 2002 until November 29, 2008, when we lost SIX in a row to those Tractor Pullers. Thing is, there's a big difference.
When Auburn beats us, they get to crow both locally and nationally about how "we beat Alabama!"
When we beat them.....ah, they're just one of many wins we got that year to us. Them beating us in 2013.... to many of them I'll GUARANTEE you it meant more that they stopped us from the first ever three-peat than that they were in line for a shot to win it themselves. (I seriously doubt the active players feel this way, but the former players and especially the fan base as a whole does - yes, there ARE exceptions to this).
If I could have had just one wish in 2013.......UGA doesn't screw up and give Ricardo Louis the most insane touchdown you'll ever see. They beat us the next week with the Kick Six, we go kill Missouri and then we maul Florida State after the Buckeyes lose.
They get what they want - and we get to point out, "So what? We've done something nobody ever did before." (I realize it's painful for our fans to even talk about that game very much but.......setting aside the horrific ending from our vantage point, it was one helluva football game, and I don't know that I will ever see anything like it ever again. I had friends send me condolences months later while saying, "But my Gawd, what a game that was!" These were not Auburn or Alabama fans just folks who watched the game.
Rodney Orr of Tider Insider summarized the differences between the schools. Auburn beating Alabama gets them national respect; us beating Auburn does NOT get us anything at all nationally. (A longer quotation appears in Maisel's "War In Dixie," the horrible tale of the 2000 season).
It's probably similar to - back when they played - Colorado and Nebraska, except for the fact they don't live in the same state. Only you have to multiply it by about 100. Colorado beat Nebraska multiple times and became a big deal; when Nebraska beat Colorado, it didn't even matter all that much. Except for the 1994-95-96 time frame when both schools were good and CU had beaten Nebraska several times recently.......it never meant anything at all to Nebraska to beat Colorado.
I'm trying to think of a time when it really meant anything beyond "at least we don't have to listen to them this year" to us. I think 1984 was probably the ONE time that UA fans took A LOT of comfort in that win and that had more to do with unique circumstances than anything else. It was our first losing season since prior to CPB arriving, and Auburn began the year at number one and had a Heisman Trophy candidate in Bo Jackson. They were going for three in a row against us and there's NO DOUBT that 1984 Auburn team was better than our 1984 team. None whatsoever. But some guys like Paul Ott Carruth and Mike Shula (along with Rory Turner, Curt Jarvis, and a guy who intercepted a pass named David Valletto) put it all together one day and won the Iron Bowl.
Otherwise? It really doesn't mean all that much. I guess if we had won in 2010, we'd have relished the mockery of 'you came this close and we took it from you!' but that would only have lasted the five months until the tornadoes hit.
Will Auburn still be a team with fans at that point.
Maybe I should try to quote a prominent booger. " not playing the game to us was just plain dull and stupid"
Where has Alabama fans ever complained about the game other than how Auburn cheats the system?
Moved to Texas, so I would never hear "punt, Bama, punt" again.
Only because the haters tune in, and hope API ruins our season.
No one is saying it is not important. It would be easier for us to live without it than li'l brother.
Its main importance is if we lose, we can kiss any chance to be in the playoffs good-bye. If API loses, all they can do is whine how we paid the refs and cheat.
And remind us of '72, '10, and '13.
Can't name many folks around here who care about TCU. More Baylol supporters.
(TCU is in Fort Worthless. Folks consider Dallas is where the East ends, and Ft. Worth where the West begins. The cultures are not alike, and neither cares for the other. So, no, not much TCU love around here.)
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