A pair of 8-5 teams are highly debated heading into the season.
Auburn and Texas A&M both hired high-profile defensive coordinators to go along with already great offensive minds and proven offenses that can score points. The Aggies even won the head-to-head matchup in Jordan-Hare Stadium and their bowl game.
So, why does Auburn seem to have all the momentum right now?
The SEC Network’s analysts broke down two rising SEC West powers, Auburn and Texas A&M:
Paul Finebaum: “I think it’s all about Will Muschamp, and the moment he was hired, it seemed like Auburn was no more an 8-5 team but a national championship contender. I think on the A&M side of the ball, John Chavis was a good hire, but we can’t take our eyes off of Muschamp, because before he became the Florida head coach, he was the best defensive coordinator in the game.”
Marcus Spears: “You look at Will Muschamp, and you look at his resume, he’s had great defenses everywhere. When you look at John Chavis, let’s be honest, John Chavis was hired at Texas A&M because Texas A&M couldn’t produce against LSU. And they wanted that guy to figure out how to stop the spread/up-tempo. They gave up 20 points a game to A&M … But you look at Will Muschamp paired with Gus Malzahn, Muschamp stopped people without an offense. Muschamp will look even better as a coordinator with a lot of points being scored by the offense.”
Greg McElory: “The hype around Auburn is justified, but people are way too low on Texas A&M. They have a great quarterback coming back that is arguably one of the top five in the conference. They have maybe the best receiving corps in the group. The offensive line is always solid. The defensive line now has a tenacity. They practice being more physical. They practice being more aggressive … I’m not saying the defense will be top five in the league, but they will at least breathe some life and play with some energy. And offensively, we talk about how one-dimensional they were last year. In comes Dave Christensen, new offensive line coach and new schemes in the run game. It should allow Kyle Allen to throw the ball down the field. That’s a good recipe for success.”
What do I think? Auburn has to prove it can’t win, while Texas A&M has to prove it can. The Tigers have won SEC Championships before, and even with Johnny Manziel, TAMU failed to do so. Therefore, Auburn is always going to get the benefit of the doubt. Same case in the SEC East. Missouri gets little respect even though it has won the East and back-to-back seasons.
A graduate of the University of Florida and founder of Saturday Down South, Kevin is a college football enthusiast.
