[Lefty Noob]

Interesting story relating to the Auburn Tigers over at Rivals.com. You see, the Tigers enter the season as the favorites to win the SEC. Which means they probably won't.

As Rivals explains it, "The SEC media have correctly picked the conference champion just twice in the last 14 years. The 1994 and 1995 Florida teams were the ones to make good on the media's promise... This so-called jinx lately has proved even more troublesome than usual... Tennessee was picked to win the conference last year and responded with its first losing season since 1988. Auburn topped the preseason media poll three years ago and dropped its first two games by a combined score of 40-3."

So will the Tigers succumb to or overcome the SEC jinx in 2006?

[cjg11582]

I don't know if this is a jinx so much as it is a strong indicator on how difficult it is to play an SEC schedule. In every other conference you can select two teams that are the favorite year in, year out. Big Ten: Ohio State & Michigan, ACC: FSU & Miami, Big East: WVU & Louisville, Big 12: Oklahoma & Texas. But this doesn't exist in the SEC. I suppose in recent years, one could claim Georgia & LSU, but then we leave UT, Alabama, Auburn and Florida off the list, which seems ill-advised.
Will Auburn win the SEC and prove the media right? It really is a coin flip. They have a favorable schedule with 8 home games, including LSU, Georgia and Florida all at home. They do have to travel for the Alabama game (Alabama will be in a rebuilding year, but anything is possible in a helmet game) and they lost all three of there starting wide receivers from last season as well as 7 or 8 starters on the defensive side of the ball. But with they way things are shaping up now, a backfield of Kenny Irons and Brian Cox might put them in as comfortable of a position as they could possibly hope to be in too win the SEC.

[Stoney]

So what will they say this year?