Saturday Down South’s Alex Hickey is clearly not a fan of the College Football Playoff’s final two teams being Alabama and Georgia. Neither are we. Ditto for most of the country. Yet somehow, Auburn football is the scapegoat for why the matchup is happening in the first place.
The Tigers failed the nation by not beating Alabama–something Lane Kiffin’s mighty offensive juggernaut Ole Miss led by Heisman hopeful Matt Corral couldn’t do, or what Josh Heupel and Hendon Hooker’s hurry-up offense spectacularly failed to do–and are the sole reason for why the two most hated teams on the Plains are playing for the national championship for the second time in five years.
Sure.
Check out this reasoning:
"If you’re among those who are unenthused by Alabama-Georgia Part II, there is one team to blame for putting us in this pickle: Auburn. And more specifically, Auburn coach Bryan Harsin.Harsin’s Tigers had the Crimson Tide dead to rights in the regular-season finale, and let them wriggle off the hook. Now we’re all stuck paying the price."
So, again, to recap, Auburn football losing to the Crimson Tide during the regular season’s final game is the reason Alabama proceeded to roll over undefeated Georgia and then undefeated Cincinnati. Actually, that sounds like a compliment when worded a certain way.
“To be the man, you have to beat the man.”
In all seriousness, this reasoning discredits the Tide to a spectacular degree. It’s very possible that a two-loss ‘Bama would have still made the CFP over Notre Dame, who were left at the alter by Brian Kelly at one of the worst possible times. No other two-loss team would have made it in over Nick Saban and co.
They ran through the likes of Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Miami, while getting the job done against Florida, Arkansas, and of course, Auburn. Blaming one team means you blame them all.
And considering Auburn football was without starting QB Bo Nix and had TJ Finley practically playing one leg by the end of the 2021 Iron Bowl, pinning the blame on AU for losing as 18-point betting underdogs appears (to us, at least) to be in poor taste.