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Auburn Football: Should AU Be the Favorite to Win the 2015 SEC Championship?

By Nicholas Ian Allen

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It may be January, but there’s already plenty of talk about the 2015 college football season, including who should be the favorite to win the SEC Championship.

Oct 12, 2013; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers quarterback Jeremy Johnson (6) looks to pass during the first quarter against the Western Carolina Catamounts at Jordan Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports

According to current odds  from Bovada (for winning the national championship, and therefore assuming they would also be favored to win the SEC title), Alabama is the actual favorite. The Auburn Tigers are fourth behind Georgia and LSU – just a hair ahead of Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

But Bleacher Report’s Brian Leigh says it should be Auburn. He points to the hiring of new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, the history of success of Gus Malzahn’s offense, plus the unsettled quarterback positions at Alabama, Georgia and LSU as his reasoning.

This point about Muschamp makes a lot of sense:

"This defense doesn’t have that far to climb to win a championship. If it makes the jump from the Top 40 to the Top 20—from where it was in 2014 to where it was in 2013—that would make Auburn the favorite. If it leaps into the Top 15 or 10, no one is going to beat it."

Other highlights of the piece include:

  • Muschamp’s history of leading top ten defenses
  • The Tigers welcome back Kris Frost, Cassanova McKinzy, Montravius Adams and Jonathan Jones from the 2014 squad, as well as Carl Lawson, who was injured all of last season
  • Jeremy Johnson‘s premium talent at QB
  • Duke Williams will be one of the nation’s best wide receivers
  • Roc Thomas, Jovon Robinson and Kerryon Johnson are a dangerous running back trio
  • Despite losing two (and a half) starters, the offensive line returns players that have made a combined 59 career starts
  • The schedule in 2014 is much more forgiving in 2015 than it was in 2014, including home games against Ole Miss, Georgia and Alabama
  • No team has repeated as SEC Champions since 1998

Overall, Leigh makes a valid argument. It just makes Auburn football fans uneasy.

Most of Auburn’s best recent seasons have come when the Tigers faced modest pre-season expectations. The Tigers were ranked No. 22 in the pre-season AP Poll in the National Championship season of 2010, and Auburn was unranked entering the 2013 SEC Championship season following a 4-8 record the previous year.

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On the other end of the spectrum, the Tigers haven’t always fared well with a pre-season bull’s eye on their chest. In 2003, Auburn was ranked No. 6 and stumbled to an 8-5 record and the 2008 squad was ranked in the top ten in the pre-season before going 5-7.

Of course, you only have to go back to last season when Auburn entered the season ranked sixth before the Tigers fell to 8-5 overall, 4-4 in the SEC, and lost four out of their last five games (and four in a row to FBS opponents).

Does Auburn have the talent, coaching and schedule to win the SEC Championship in 2015? Absolutely.

Should they be the favorite? Maybe. It’s too early to tell, really. Ask again in August.

Do we want them to be? No, not really.

Championship expectations are great, and Malzahn and Muschamp welcome them. And while past results are not related to future success, life is just a little easier when you’re the underdog.

Next: 3 Reasons Why Byron Cowart is 2015's Most Important Recruit

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