CFBPlayoff	School	Conference	W/L
1	Clemson	ACC	13 - 0
2	Alabama	SEC	12 - 1
3	Michigan State	Big Ten	12 - 1
4	Oklahoma	Big 12	11 - 1
5	Iowa	Big Ten	12 - 1
6	Stanford	Pac-12	11 - 2
7	Ohio State	Big Ten	11 - 1
8	Notre Dame	Indi	10 - 2
9	Florida State	ACC	10 - 2
10	North Carolina	ACC	11 - 2
11	TCU	Big 12	10 - 2
12	Ole Miss	SEC	9 - 3
13	Northwestern	Big Ten	10 - 2
14	Michigan	Big Ten	9 - 3
15	Oregon	Pac-12	9 - 3
16	Oklahoma State	Big 12	10 - 2
17	Baylor	Big 12	9 - 3
18	Houston	The Am	12 - 1
19	Florida	SEC	10 - 3
20	LSU	SEC	8 - 3
21	Navy	The Am	9 - 2
22	Utah	Pac-12	9 - 3
23	Tennessee	SEC	8 - 4
24	Temple	The Am	10 - 3
25	USC	Pac-12	8 - 5

Auburn Football

Is it Time to Rely on Themselves Not Fourth Quarter Luck

The Team of Destiny, Luck and Fortune.

Once upon a time, in a land ruled by orange and blue Tigers, there lived a determined head football Coach, Gus Malzahn. Gus was on a mission to save the land from pestilence also known as losing football games and drought also known as Auburn football not winning games. Smart and strong, Coach Malzahn knew if he could get his team to buy in to his hurry-up-no-huddle system, and that the harder they would work, the luckier they would get. And so it was, November last year, Auburn football players, fans and coaches received a special game-winning play known as “The Prayer in Jordan Hare.”

Gus Malzahn installed the play in 1998 while the head coach at Shiloh Christian High School in Springdale, Ark and brought it out just in time for the one-loss Auburn football team to come from behind to defeat the Bulldogs of Georgia. Ricardo Louis scored on a deflected 73-yard pass from Nick Marshall on fourth and 18 with 25 seconds left to give Auburn a 43-38 victory over No. 25 Georgia on Saturday night. It was as if the wish of each of the 87,451 fans in Jordan-Hare stadium was granted.

The shaker dust barely settled onto the stadium when Auburn fans found themselves once again relying on a hope, a prayer and a wish. Just two weeks after the once-in-a-lifetime play, “The Prayer in Jordan-Hare,” Auburn received another beautifully wrapped package, “The Kick Six.” In another unforgettable once-in-a-lifetime, game-winning play the Auburn football team not only defeated the biggest nemesis of Auburn, but also of every team in the NCAA, the number one ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, also yanking the Tide’s shot to compete for a third national championship in as many years.

In the final second of the game, Alabama missed a 57-yard field goal, which Auburn’s Chris Davis fielded deep in the end zone, and then proceeded to take it all the way back for the game winning score with no time left on the clock, score Auburn 34, Alabama 28. Leading up to the game, some said the Auburn football team would need magic to win, and magic is what they got.

With left-over Thanksgiving turkey in the fridge and an Iron Bowl victory in his first year as Auburn football head coach, Gus Malzahn’s seemed to have found a genie in a bottle and granted wishes poured from his playbook whenever he needed them. The Auburn football team won the SEC Championship defeating the Mizzou Tigers in the Georgia Dome, 59 – 42.

Although no amount of trickeration could overcome the Jameis Winston led FSU Seminoles that year in the National Championship game, the Auburn football team had far surpassed anyone’s wildest imagination rising from zero SEC wins to SEC Champions in one year with their new head football coach dressed in vest and visor leading the way.

But the notion that Auburn could win any game, as long as it was close in the fourth quarter seemed to carry over from one football season to the next and stuck to the Auburn Tigers football team like field paint on a runningback’s jersey. Could the Tiger’s go back to the well for magical comebacks again and again? The magic appeared again, in a surreal play at the goal line with Auburn’s Kris Frost stopping Ole Miss Rebel’s star wide receiver, LeQuon Treadwell, from scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 90 seconds left in the game in another inconceivable ending and another SEC West showdown, No. 3 Auburn handed No. 4 Ole Miss their second loss on the season in the, “Stop Heard Round the World.”

Trap Game Defined

If Wikipedia is looking for an example to define ‘trap game’ they look no further than Auburn Texas A&M 2014. Ranked number 3 in the Playoff Committee Rankings, Auburn was the home team and a heavy favorite playing a Texas A&M team coming off a three-game losing streak, losing to three SEC West foes including an annihilation by Alabama, 59 – 0.

Too Much Focus on Hocus Pocus

How narrow can the Auburn football team make the margin of winning and losing, expecting to come out on the top side of the equation?

Did the Auburn football players buy into the hype, the hocus pocus, and focus on magic too much and not move past the Ole Miss victory? Saturday morning before kickoff ESPN College GameDay aired a piece in which Auburn player after player was interviewed and they all said basically the same thing,

“If we are close at the end we will find a way to win. All we have to do is make sure the game is close.”

A 21-point favorite over Texas A&M, did Auburn overlook the Aggies toward the two tougher road games ahead at Georgia and Alabama? In front of a packed home crowd of screaming fans came the perfect storm for Texas A&M. Auburn’s luck seemed to have run out. The defensive effort was just too late holding the Aggies to only six points in the second half after giving up 35 in the first half. Two fumbles at the end of the game ensured they were profoundly “Gigged,” 41 – 38.

Did the genie grant Auburn three wishes go back in the bottle?

Did Auburn’s magic genie leave the stadium? No, not at all, because the magic never existed, at least not in the form of a mythical genie or fans’ answered prayers. The magic at Auburn lies in the hearts of the players, in hard work, discipline and a playbook from an excellent play calling coaching staff. The sooner they realize that they created the magic all along the better they will be.

Who knows what will happen when the final ink dries on the new four-team college football playoff. Auburn may confuse the twelve member committee by handing in two big SEC wins on their CFB Playoff final exam. Since the list of one-loss teams is slimming down faster than your Aunt Sarah on a Slim Fast diet, you never know how the four-team bracket will be graded. The final games of this season are all on the Auburn football team playing for nothing but pride. There may be Christmas decorations showing up at your local Home Depot, but don’t count on Santa showing up in the fourth quarter delivering miracle plays. Auburn fans only, come closer to your blog reading device, lean in, so we can whisper a secret to you… Auburn doesn’t need it.