Auburn Fans Shouldn't Get Too Excited Too Quickly

Right now there is little doubt in my mind that Auburn will open up with four wins in their first five games. There is also little doubt that it will be due to the opponents they play more than the success of Auburn.

I am also sure there will be Auburn fans yelling that everything's fixed now and that Gene Chizik was the best thing that could have happened to Auburn, and some fans will be pointing fingers and declaring, "I told you so!"

For those fans, I have only one phrase: 2008.

Before you remark how great the offense has come around and how killer the defense looks, remember that last year you started off the season with a 38-0 blasting of Louisiana-Monroe, followed up with a respectable 27-13 win against Southern Miss.

Then the cracks began to show once you got into the SEC schedule and won a baseball-score football game against Mississippi State 3-2 before losing a close game to a decent LSU team.

You rebounded to beat one of the most pitiful teams from Knoxville in many years the following week and stood at 4-1 before the wheels fell off.

So please, don't say a word for a while. You should even beat a rebuilding Tennessee team and go 4-1 again, but please don't tell us you've "come back" until you've played LSU and Ole Miss.

This is really a pretty good schedule for 2009 to make it to a bowl game. Sure wins against Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, Ball State, Tennessee, and Furman mean you only have to win one more game to get bowl eligible.

That means you have to pull off a win against Arkansas or Kentucky (in the possible category) or a win against West Virginia, Ole Miss, LSU, Georgia, or Alabama (highly unlikely).

Just spare us all the hoopla over being 4-1 early on. Remember 2008 and just keep your hopes up and mouths closed.