Blep

This is what it should be. I think this year is as good of a year as ever that displays the fact there aren't ever going to be four teams that could win it all in a given year. Nobody really deserved the fourth spot, and that usually seems to be the case. I think Georgia is the clear favorite to repeat this year. I don't think they're quite as dominant as they were last year, but I don't see Michigan / TCU / Ohio State being able to line up against them for four quarters. I think we probably see a Georgia v. TCU national championship, which will be pretty fun.

I disagree. He's been successful everywhere he's been. Chadwell will end up with a P5 job in a few years.

So, you're one of those 'your are what your record says you are' kind of fans. I'm not going to argue that Alabama should be in the playoff, because quite frankly, I don't believe they showed up in their biggest games of the season. However, I don't believe it's difficult to make the case that Alabama would give Georgia a much tougher game than Ohio State will when they back their way into the fourth spot. Who did Ohio State play? The entire B1G was down this year, especially the almost always consistent BIG East. Their best win is Penn State, who beat a whopping zero top 25 teams the entire year and lost to the only two ranked teams they played. Alabama played a much more difficult schedule, but they lost their two biggest games of the season. Neither team deserves to be in, but I think it's really just splitting hairs when debating which team choked less. All of that being said, I believe without a doubt that Alabama gives Georgia a tougher game than Ohio State would, but that's not a reality that's going to come to fruition, for better or for worse.

I kind of wish Auburn had hired Cadillac and surrounded him with a good supporting cast. There are plenty of examples that say you don't need great X's and O's coach at the top to be a really successful program. That aside, it's silly to cast judgement on Freeze for any recruiting developments right now. He's Auburn's guy now for better or for worse, and people should give him a chance to prove himself for a few years before sounding the alarms.

JTF - if Caleb Williams goes down is USC the same team? You already know that answer. They probably wouldn't be able to beat Utah without him. If Michigan loses their all-star running backs are they the same team? The goal is to put the four BEST teams in by the end of the season. If we lost Bryce Young we aren't even a top ten team. That matters. When determining which teams are the best in the moment important injuries matter whether it's fair or not.

Hoping we don’t backend our way into the playoff. It’ll feel cheap considering we choked away both of our marquee games. I don’t want another season of Golding and, to a lesser extent, BoB. Let’s get a good bowl game and head into the off-season in a position to fix some of the issues that have plagued the team the last two years.

That’s such a stupid argument. Tennessee is not the same team without Hooker behind center. Pretending as if that doesn’t matter is hilariously stupid.

He should find a program here in the SEC. He was a good quarterback, but it's tough to beat out someone like Ewers. Hope he finds a good program!

This really isn't a home-run hire. Freeze is a good offensive mind, but he is just an above-average head coach. He never won the SEC West when it was much less loaded despite being able to top us twice in that same period. His job at Liberty has been pretty good, but it's been a bit of a mixed bag there outside of the 2020 season. Add his questionable decisions from the past, and his potential to screw up in the future in similar ways, and you understandably have people feeling rather milquetoast about this hire. I think he probably wins some games and recruits better than Harsin, which isn't saying much, but I can't see him being a long-term answer for Auburn. The West is so loaded right now, it's going to be tough sledding if he can't quickly find some footing.

Kind of underwhelmed by the hire. Freeze did beat us twice, but he never took advantage of teams like LSU, Arkansas, and A&M all being relatively down. He's not a bad hire though. It'll depend largely on how he recruits. Very intriguing to have him back in the SEC West.

We do not deserve to be there! Can we not just be happy with a probable NY6 bowl game and enjoy the season we had? If we had a solid resume then maybe it would make sense, but our best wins are against Mississippi State and Texas. That doesn't inspire confidence with the committee.

Tennessee would not and should not be considered a top four team without Hooker behind center. That doesn't mean we should be considered a top four team either, but deciding between a Hooker-less Tennessee v. a healthy Alabama is a no brainer in the eyes of the committee.

It's true, but you have to be an impressive two loss team, which we are not. Our resume just isn't there this year to justify a playoff spot. Penn State in 2016 had the resume, but they were left out for a team that they beat! Auburn would have been in, but they had two wins against the CFP #1 team that season. LSU would have had wins against both us and Georgia if they had won out. Our best wins are Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Texas. We don't deserve it this year.

Auburn knows a lot about handing out tons of money to 8-4 coaches.

Happy with 10-2. Obviously, this team didn't live up to preseason expectations, but that doesn't mean this was a bad season by any means. Another double digit win season in the books. Happy to be here for such an incredible run of dominance.

Fair enough!

No way we deserve a playoff spot. We lost the two most significant games of the season. They were close losses, but they were losses nonetheless. I agree that Ohio State does not deserve to be in the conversation though. They lost their only important game this season.

Ohio State has been a pretender in a weak conference this year. Michigan with their running backs and an upgrade with McCarthy at quarterback have looked the part more this year than Ohio State. Glad to see them get another win against the Buckeyes!

The curse of the Auburn coaching search seems real. Kiffin and Freeze dropping late, winnable games after their names popped into the coaching search is kind of funny to see.

Terrible call. He obviously didn’t touch it. Love to win, but I hate to win like that.

Did you forget about Franks and Trask? Goofy fan.

Kentucky's season fell off the rails when their offensive line couldn't protect Levis through the first five or so games of the season. The guy has been playing through injuries since the Ole Miss game, which is a shame because he had played fairly well up to that point in the season. Kentucky has to find a better offensive line coach to rebuild the unit that really vaulted them to above average standing in the SEC, otherwise they will continue to have head scratchers against teams like South Carolina and Vandy.

Man, Tony Elliot has really killed any chances Armstrong had at being a decent draft pick. The regression is pretty unbelievable.

The issue is glaringly obvious at this point. The coaching staff is not developing players and maximizing the talent that is on the roster. That'll change by season's end when Saban more than likely attempts to find new coordinators at several positions. Still, it's been a good season, and the team still has an opportunity to make a great bowl game. Hopefully we see Saban make productive moves in the offseason.

Doering is right. Bryce deserved better. Still, he'll get drafted in the top ten and he already won the Heisman. He'll be fine, but it's still disappointing to watch him play his heart out every week and carry this offense on his back with little to no help.

Totally! Sark was an amazing offensive coordinator that managed to get the most out of the players on the roster. He and Kiffin are the two best offensive coaches to have come through Alabama. Although, I don't think BoB is really a bad OC at all, he seems to not be able to adapt when our personnel can't execute his game plan. I'm more disappointed in the job Golding has done. The sport has changed so more points and yards are expected against good teams, but our guys just don't have the discipline or fundamentals on that side of the ball. It's been that way since 2018/2019. Hoping for the day when Alabama's defense is no longer soft.

This is true. The defense is soft and undisciplined, but we have to give Golding some slack because he can turn out good production against bad teams!

Even if we drop another game this year I am not saddened by a 10-2 or 9-3 season. It just is what it is. This team wasn't up to the challenge, and that largely has to do with coaching. The roster is as talented as ever, but this team lacks good fundamentals and discipline. They're not dominant in the second a third levels on defense, the offensive line struggles to run block and lets Bryce get hit way too often, and the receivers are simply young and a bit raw in terms of their development. The pieces were there, but this team doesn't feel much better than it was in Week 1.

It really wasn’t until Jeremy Pruitt left for Tennessee that the defense took a nosedive. Tosh Lupoi and Golding have taken great talent and squandered it since.

Great game! This team is deeply flawed. It's easily the worst team Saban had fielded since his first year. No discipline, especially in the secondary. It's such a shame because this team is talented, and Bryce Young is the best quarterback to come through this school, yet he will probably leave without a championship. Golding continues to prove he's the best at doing less with more. I won't overreact and say Saban's lost his edge because he did a great coaching job last year, but this has definitely been a really poor year of coaching. Sad to see the season slip away, but it is what it is. Congrats to LSU!