Auburn Football: The Perfect Situation Last Year, the Perfect Storm This Year

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) Last season, Auburn was the team that had all the ingredients fall into place at one time, and they earned the championship by having all those perfect ingredients fall into place at the perfect time.

Unfortunately, this year they are without most of those ingredients, and fortune is reversed. This year, they are caught in the perfect storm.

Thirty members from last year's team aren't there, and that problem meets what could be the toughest schedule in the nation with a ton of new starters.

That is the perfect storm.

While Auburn fans won't want to make excuses, let me make some for them.

It's hard enough to win with a team so ripe with so many first year starters, but to do so with this schedule, it could just be a back breaker.

How bad is that schedule?

The first game against Utah State is winnable, but then it gets real tough, real fast.

Mississippi State and Clemson are both teams poised to have good years, and both games could be losses.

Then an easy win over Florida Atlantic gives them a rest, and they'll need it because the next team is South Carolina, who will want revenge for last year's SEC Championship Game loss.

Auburn will be hard pressed to win this game as South Carolina may reach their high water mark this year in the SEC.

Then they have to play Arkansas, a team many are picking to be one of the top SEC teams this year. A win here would be a surprise.

Then they play Florida, who, like Auburn, is rebuilding. The question is, who is further along?

On paper, the Gators have more talent, but the Tigers are at home, so this could be a pick 'em. But even for Auburn's best-case scenario, this is going to be a very hard fought game.

Then comes the beating that LSU is going to put on them. Yes, strange things could happen, but it may take divine intervention to keep the Cajun Kitties from clawing their brother cats from Auburn to death.

The Ole Miss game should give Auburn a target they can handle, but depending on bad they are beat up by the LSU game, this could be a contest but one Auburn could win.

The Georgia game is one that is like a border war. Georgia has come up on the short end of most of these contests lately, and they have a revenge factor and a lot talent on their side to make that happen.

And they should do just that.

Then you have the "gimmie" off game against Samford to prepare for the butt whipping that Alabama is sure to put on them this year.

Talk about revenge, Alabama has hung signs up around the football team all year reminding them of last year's blown game where Auburn came back from a huge deficit to win.

History shows that when Auburn wins, they usually just squeak by, but when Alabama wins, it's a butt whipping.

They'll get the butt whipping.

I see Auburn winning only five games this year and being kept home for the holidays, but in their defense, it's going to be because their opponents are better this year, and they are much worse. Combine that with a killer schedule, and you have the problem.

Auburn is the only SEC team that if forced to play all seven SEC schools that are ranked in the preseason polls. Throw in Clemson as a non-conference team that could also wind up in the top 25 later in the year, and you have what could be the toughest schedule at the worst possible time for a rebuilding team.

So while Auburn is sure to have a terrible record for a defending national champion, even under the best case scenario, it may not be all Auburn's fault. They just fell into the perfect storm this season.