Having written about Auburn football twice in August, I had decided to leave the Aubies alone for the rest of the preseason and also ignore their early season, easy run to 4-0. Two things caused me to change my mind.
One was what Nick Saban said about Auburn during ESPN's first GameDay of the 2024 season. The GOAT predicted the Auburn Tigers will be the SEC's most improved team. Disagreeing with Saban is worse than foolishness; for an Alabama Crimson Tide fan, it is borderline heresy. I will tiptoe to the edge of blasphemy by commenting that Auburn was so bad last season, how could the Tigers not improve in 2024?
Hold on, Auburn did give the Alabama Crimson Tide fits in the Iron Bowl. Hugh Freeze has earned the pride he so clearly holds for his ability to befuddle a Nick Saban defense. Given his minimal success in other ways, it is an oddity that Freeze could sometimes neutralize Saban's complex defensive schemes. Nevertheless, a much improved Auburn team may not exceed eight regular season wins.
The other trigger for pontificating about Auburn again comes from Brett McMurphy. McMurphy calculated Preseason and Final AP rankings for the CFB Playoff Era, to define the most overrated and underrated teams. A simple calculation assigned points to how a team finished above or below its preseason AP ranking.
The No. 1 Overrated Program going back to 2014 was the Auburn Tigers. Auburn has a tendency to pump up No. 1-ranked achievements, but it is unlikely a banner will fly at Jordan-Hare for this one.
Most Overrated Top 10
- 1) Auburn Tigers; 2) Southern Cal Trojans; 3) Wisconsin Badgers; 4) Texas A&M Aggies; 5) LSU Bengal Tigers; 6) Texas Longhorns; 7) Oregon Ducks; 8) Oklahoma Sooners; 9) Miami Hurricanes; 10) Florida State Seminoles.
McMurphy did not say it, but I'll say it for him - what a bunch of losers.
McMurphy's calculations extended to a Top 25 of Overrated Programs. Others outside the top 10 are Clemson (No. 11), Georgia (No. 14), and Arkansas (tied at No. 24). Alabama Football came in at No. 17. Given how frequently high Alabama, Clemson, and Georgia were ranked in the preseason, it is almost a given they would make a top 25. Also in the top 25 are Ohio State (tied at No. 19) and Notre Dame (tied at No. 17).
Another list of Underrated teams was included. The top five are Northwestern, Cincinnati, TCU, Missouri, and Kentucky. Clearly, no correction to the rankings calculation was made for TCU's embarrassing 65-7, National Championship loss to Georgia.