I totally agree, a lot of the young talent we have will be coming intot full swing at about that time too.
SEC Schedules Chuck, that is a good decision regarding the timing of your wedding. I have been going to AU games since 1978 when I was almost too young to have any memories about the games. So AU football is important to me. Well, I married an FSU grad and she does not share the same affection for college football that I do. Needless to say she was not going to let a football game or season dictate to her the date that her wedding would take place. We got married on the Saturday evening of the AU/UGA game in 1997. 3/4ths of my groomsmen were Auburn grads and it did not go over too well with them. However, one of those groomsmen who gave me a hard time about it got married a couple of years later on the night of the AU/LSU game, so I was let off the hook a little. Both of the games were away games, so that helped a little. Regarding our schedules, do you all think that we should have our conference games against the East Division completed by mid-season so that it would make the division championship more likely to come down to two divisional teams playing head to head at the end of the season? I thought it was great when LSU & AU played for the right to go to Atlanta the very next week. It was really two championship games in a row. Also, playing the inter-division games early makes the possibility of a rematch game in Atlanta more attractive. Most teams are different teams at the end of the year than they were at the beginning. Injuries take their toll and experience and momentum come into play. This year AU and ARK were prime examples of transformed teams at the end. If AU had played UGA in Atlanta, it would be the exact same teams playing each other two weeks later. As it stands right now, AU finishes with UGA and UA, and I am pretty sure that is not going to change because it has been like that for as long as I can remember. However, it would be nice to swap the dates of the LSU and ARK games on the AU schedule. That way the game could have some build up and hype with a large part of the schedule already complete. It is sort of anti-climactic when an inter-divisional game decides the division champ. On the other hand, UF and UT have had plenty of hype for their early season game. I guess there is also a need for balance in your schedule. Finishing with LSU, UGA and UA would be a tough way for AU to earn a spot in Atlanta. AUDave
eh - I'm okay with playing them in whatever order. It would be one thing if these end of season games had no impact on the SECCC, but the East wins and loses count as much as the west (except for the 2nd tiebreaker). If anything - I would like to see the bye week we used to get before the bama game . .playing UGA and bama back to back is pretty intense.
I like the idea of playing the western division games later on. Don't forget, the only reason LSU/AU played so late in the season in 2001 was became the game was postponed after 9/11.
I think AU and LSU should be the last game. right now I would say they were are biggest rival and it would intensify the rivalary. Plus lately the west has really been between us anyways so it would put a lot more drama into it. 2001 was a perfect example. We played UT and FLA early and finished with the west and the last game being with AU. That was the biggest build up for a game that I can remember.
