The Catalyst to a NC...

[windbane]

Auburn won't be great next year, but they will be good. They will be an 8-4 type team.

They lose Kenny Irons, 4 Starting Offensive Linemen, and a few key guys on defense (Herring and Irons).

If we picked any year to play Auburn, next season would probably be it.

They also lose 2 other starting wide receivers... only 4 returning starters on offense... TE, LT, QB, and FB... only 7 returning starters on defense as well.

http://www.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/aub/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/depth-chart

they weren't great on offense last year anyway, so if they get worse (losing nearly an entire OL) we should be able to stop them.  scoring on them is the issue and I think we will be capable of doing that.  7 returning starters and they lose 2 NFL guys.  sounds good.

[South_Florida_Flip]

I think talk of a national title is 10 years premature.

I think a trip to the Gator bowl and playing on new years day would be historic.

Agree with you that the talk is a bit premature.

If we're going to look that far ahead, then I will say that I think the Gator is out of reach for USF in 2007. ND will be going there. That's not to say that we couldn't play in the Orange Bowl, but if we don't win the conference, then I Charlotte or Houston being our options.

[HaulingBull Sucks]

 

If we can beat Auburn, [highlight]then we will win the BE[/highlight].

Dream on.  Beating any OOC team doesn't guarantee we will win the BE.

We beat U of L in 2005 and wound up tied for 4th place in the BE.  We beat WV in 2006 and wound up tied for 4th again.

Dude, nothing GUARANTEES that anyone will win anything.  However, if we can beat Auburn on their homke turf, [highlight]then we should be able to take the BE title[/highlight], especially since we've got UL and WVU at home.

Big difference between "we will" and "we should be able to".

[windbane]

will notre dame always get a big east bowl or can that end with the new contract in a few years?  i personally find it stupid.  that said, notre dame might just suck enough to not make a BCS so i agree we wouldnt go to the gator bowl then.  so let's just go to the BCS, heh.  navy wont get the MCCB, though, so we could go there if we actually got selected first, which i would find surprising.  we could get stuck with a bad bowl again.

[WoolyBully]

...we could get stuck with a bad bowl again.

Anything outside of a BCS bowl should be considered a bad

bowl.

[USFMikeB]

 

If we can beat Auburn, [highlight]then we will win the BE[/highlight].

Dream on.  Beating any OOC team doesn't guarantee we will win the BE.

We beat U of L in 2005 and wound up tied for 4th place in the BE.  We beat WV in 2006 and wound up tied for 4th again.

Dude, nothing GUARANTEES that anyone will win anything.  However, if we can beat Auburn on their homke turf, [highlight]then we should be able to take the BE title[/highlight], especially since we've got UL and WVU at home.

Big difference between "we will" and "we should be able to".

You think that prognostications on a message board are the actual determinants of who wins the BE?  Come on buddy, get a grip and quit splitting hairs. :

[bulls96go]

2007 step #1  get ranked.

if we get 10 wins we will be ranked. (a 9+ win BE team will be ranked)

a win at auburn is not needed but we must show up, not get blown out. very possible if we do not shoot ourselves in the foot this game should be respectable b/c aub not high scoring offense

2008/9

start the season ranked then get on fire (12-0), and get lucky 1 or no other team is undeafeated

we should then have a shot at playing in the NC. winning prediction is a whole other thread.

[Guest Ari_Hinkelberger]

I think a second place finish in the conference and a trip to the Gator bowl would be historic.  

Going on the road and beating Auburn is probably not in the cards boys.

I think there might be only 3 teams in the country that have won more games over the last three seasons then Auburn.

We lost on the road to Kansas and Cincinatti last year.

Lets keep expectations a little bit more in line.

[Guest Ari_Hinkelberger]

Come on.

We are not playing for the national title next year.  

These types of predictions are just bonkers.

[windbane]

Come on.

We are not playing for the national title next year.  

These types of predictions are just bonkers.

not predicting, saying it is possible if everything goes right.  easy to "predict" it won't happen since only 2 teams make it right now