Alabama vs. Auburn: Iron Bowl 2011 Won't Live Up to Last Year's Epic Showdown

The 2011 Iron Bowl is going to be nothing like the 2010 version of the greatest yearly game in the state of Alabama.

Last year, the Alabama Crimson Tide went up 24-0 on the Auburn Tigers before Cam Newton orchestrated a comeback for the ages. The Tigers ended up winning 28-27 with their QB accounting for all four touchdowns.

There won't be anything crazy like that happening this week.

Gene Chizik, Auburn’s head coach, has acknowledged he may be playing the best Alabama team he has seen in his three years with the program.

"

This is not a good football team, this is a great football team we're playing. It's hard to compare any of the three, but I would say this is very, very similar in comparison to the first team we played back in 2009, if not a little better, in my opinion.

"

Alabama won that game by a score of 26-21.

With so many starters returning this year for ‘Bama, there is obviously motivation for them to dominate the Tigers and get revenge for their crushing loss last season.

Alabama wants to win this game by 10 touchdowns. However, I think coach Nick Saban will dial back his team and have them play solid, power football that will bleed the clock and keep their offense on the field.

It won’t be pretty, but the Tide know that they just need to win the Iron Bowl to have a great chance of playing for the national title.

They are currently the No. 2 team in the BCS rankings and won’t be competing for the SEC championship due to their loss to LSU. That means their season ends on Saturday and that could be quite fortunate if they finish with a win.

I expect Alabama to win this game in boring fashion. It won’t be anything like their epic collapse against Auburn and Cam Newton last year.