Alabama vs. Auburn: Iron Bowl Will Be One Giant Letdown

The Iron Bowl is simply the greatest rivalry in all of college football, and on Saturday it will be relegated to one of the most boring exhibitions in recent memory. 

You almost had me Iron Bowl, you shifty temptress. You almost had me believing that this game would pique my interest and keep there until the clock ticked down to zero. Well, I am onto you. 

This, my friends, is not your average Iron Bowl. This features an Alabama team that is as good as any college team I have seen before. The worst part for Auburn, among many disastrous subplots, is that Alabama has already been hit in the gut.

The teams that had BCS dreams squashed only have hindsight to tell them what went wrong and how they could have been better. There is that aching feeling in their guts that things would be different if they just had another shot.

There is also the passionate cry of "never again." That is what Auburn, a team that was really supposed to be in the dumps this year, will be facing. 

They aren't just facing one of the best rushing teams in the nation, and they aren't just facing a defense that is arguably the best in decades. They are facing all of those things plus a giant with a chip on its shoulder.

You only have to hear Nick Saban's words of wisdom for his team to know that this team will be itching for one thing—not a beatdown and not a scoring barrage, but a perfect game. 

"

It's about how we play in the games, how we prepare, how we get ready to play and us going and playing our best football. That's what we control. That's what we need to do. None of that other stuff really matters. It really doesn't matter, because if you don't do that ... what happens? You don't have the opportunity.

"

The only thing that Auburn can do to keep pace with Alabama is play perfect football. Even then, they need a letdown of epic proportions on the side of the Crimson Tide. 

Bama is that good. They have tasted defeat, and that will come as a blessing heading into bowl season. Alabama will play their brand of perfect football and there is nothing Auburn can do about it.