Alabama Football: Must Tide Fans Do the Unthinkable and Pull for Auburn?

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer)

Alabama fans are in a precarious predicament for the next four weeks. They must become Auburn fans and pull for Auburn to win the next four games.

Why?

Alabama will need a bump that it won't get from the SEC Championship Game. In all likelihood, Bama will face a three-loss SEC East team in that game, and that won't give them the oomph they need to jump an unbeaten Boise State, but beating an unbeaten Auburn could give them the push in the ratings they need and wouldn't get otherwise.

Can Alabama fans deal with it?

That is the question and at least a few Alabama fans have an answer.

"I certainly won't be an Auburn fan, but I can sure pull for them to win out if it helps Alabama," said one Alabama fan involved in a group discussion on the subject matter.

"Hell, I'd wear an Auburn shirt to work every day and Tiger pajamas to bed every night if we could beat them while they were undefeated and both crash their season and push ours back up in one game," said another.

But will other fans see it that way?

Not according to at least one of the group.

"I'll pull for them against UT Chattanooga because I want the SEC to be strong, but I hope they lose the rest. I'll pull for us to beat an undefeated LSU instead," said Mack, a grizzly old mid-60s Tide fan.

But beating an undefeated LSU in Week 10 won't have the same effect as beating an undefeated Auburn on Week 13. Not with the BCS calculations anyway.

So whether it sits well with Alabama fans or not, they must at least wish Auburn some luck, for all but the last game anyway.