Auburn #15? They earned it and I will tell you why

Auburn, #15?! Some people are in an uproar, others understand. Auburn should be ranked there. They earned it. Here are 4 reasons that Auburn should be ranked there.

1. Auburn played a Utah State team that is actually pretty darn good. Their record doesn’t reflect that because they have lost all three games in the waning seconds of the game. They could easily be undefeated right now. They lost to Auburn on an onside kick, they lost to Colorado State in OT by one point, a botched extra point, and they lost to BYU off of a deflection. Utah State is ranked 5th in the country in rushing at 307.5 yards/game. No they aren’t winning, but you can’t discredit the reason as to why they gave Auburn a very tough game. And honestly why they should have won. This is a young team that is going to be very tough down the road.

2. Auburn finds a way to win like no other team in the country. Last year Auburn came back in numerous games because they had Cam Newton to will them to victory. Well Cam Newton is no longer there, and they are still finding ways to win games. They live life on the edge, but you can’t hate the results. Chizik is 18-1 his past 19 games. I mean the record speaks for itself. And you may not want to admit it, but they have a better record over that same time than LSU (15-2) and Alabama (14-3). Just wanted to remind you of that.

3. Auburn’s only loss has come to Clemson. Let me remind you the same Clemson team that has beat Auburn, Florida State, and Virginia Tech in 3 consecutive weeks. Tajh Boyd has 8 tds to 1 int over that time frame. Sammy Watkins has easily been ACC Freshman of the Year so far catching 31 passes for 471 yards and 6 tds. If you want to say that Auburn’s defense was awful that game, it was. No question the tackling was awful and Auburn fans were calling for Ted Roof’s head. Again this is the same team that made FSU’s defense, which is very talented, look bad, and then the following week, did the same thing to Virginia Tech on the road. Also over that same 3 game stretch, Clemson has converted 30-52 third downs. A staggering 57.6% at that time Looking at the stats, it’s a reason that Clemson went from unranked in the Auburn game to 8th in the country in just 3 weeks. Consistent play will do that to you.

4. Auburn has beaten 2 ranked opponents in Mississippi State and South Carolina. South Carolina was picked by most to go to the SEC championship game in the East. Stephen Garcia has been playing like total earwax and Spurrier will be forced to put Connor Shaw in at QB to try to get some production out of that offense. Auburn’s defense held a pretty good offense to 2-10 on third down, 9-23 completions and held Lattimore in check the entire game. So maybe Ted Roof has finally got it together. Mississippi State did have 531 yards of total offense 333 yards of that was rushing. They held the ball 36:07 of the game. Mississippi State dominated that game. But when it counted, Auburn held Relf. That seems to be a recurring theme.


Auburn has earned the right to be ranked #15. I don’t think Les Miles is the luckiest man in the SEC anymore. Chizik now has that title.