Week 13 Picks - End of the Road

Well here we are at the end of another regular season. The fastest thirteen weeks of the year have come and gone. As always it ends with the Iron Bowl for Auburn and Bama. The swings in this series the last two years have been astounding. In 2007 Auburn with coordinators Al Borges and Will Muschamp beat Bama for six-in-a-row. Last year the streak was terminated with extreme prejudice by Bama in a 36-0 behind-the-woodshed whipping. Auburn is just now beginning to recover from the disastrous decisions made at the end of the Tuberville era. That lovely night in 2007 is definitely the last good point before the train started to run off the tracks as I documented to open this season.

After averaging over 10 wins a season for most of this decade Auburn dropped to 5-7 last year and currently stand at 7-4 this year. Meanwhile Bama is one game from putting together back-to-back undefeated 12-0 seasons. The player talent swing at both schools of course mirrors the record switch. Bama behind $aban (and who knows what else) have brought in a ton of top talent and currently stand as one of the deepest most talented teams in the country. In the same three years Auburn has gone from regularly producing NFL players to being one of the thinnest teams in the country. Auburn has been able to dodge disaster this year not having any injuries to offensive linemen or their two best linebackers. Auburn has some talented players but the All-SEC talent is few and far in between. The sheer depth problems are going to take years to solve.

Unfortunately that is our intro coming into this game. I could try to break down the game and come up with ways Auburn could somehow win this game but it is not going to happen. As a lifetime Auburn fan I have seen Auburn pull the underdog miracle out many times but it is not going to happen this game. On one hand Auburn simply does not have the football players to get it done and on the other hand I do not think they match up well with Bama at all. Auburn's defense is on track to be one of the worst defenses statistically in Auburn history. They give up numerous big plays every game and Friday should be no exception since Bama has several big time playmakers. Look for Mark Ingram to clinch Bama's first Heisman Trophy and Bama to hit several deep balls like Georgia did.

On offense Auburn has a little more talent to work with (except at quarterback). Auburn has a veteran offensive line, a senior tight end and All-SEC talent in Ben Tate and Darvin Adams. Unfortunately I do not think Auburn's spread offense will dent Bama's big fast defense. Bama has arguably the best defense in the country and Malzahn still makes quite a few lower league calls. For example he will call for a shotgun handoff or sweep on third and inches. None of those type plays will work against Bama. Also all the wide runs and swing passes will not work either. Auburn will need to mirror Utah's game plan last year that included a lot of crossing patterns in spots that blitzing linebackers left open and will have to hit some shots down the field.

However none of this will really matter as Chris Todd will paint his final masterpiece. The horribly slow weak-armed quarterback will be eaten alive in his final game at Auburn. Chris Todd has never led Auburn to a win over a really good team with a good coach (no Ole Miss and a Tennessee team that lost to that Ole Miss team do not count in my opinion). I think he lacks the basic abilities to even give Auburn a puncher's chance in this one. I will actually be surprised if Todd makes it through this game. His indecisiveness against better defenses and slow release spell big hits on Friday. His weak arm will mean Bama will be able to play to even more aggressive. It is not going to pretty.

I really cannot even envision a scenario where Auburn wins this game. If they somehow did I would be about the most shocked person in the world. As I said last week it would make the "Miracle on Ice" look like just another game. There have been worse Auburn teams with less talent that played tough against Bama. I see this game being so hopeless because in my opinion Auburn doesn't match up with Bama at all and our quarterback. I wish I could say something different but that is how I see it. I look for the score to look a lot like last year except hopefully we will score something. It will be close for a little bit but the defense will crack as it has all season and the offense will go in the tank as it has many times this season. For the record, I will be down there in person to support my team and see it all. I believe I will also have to suffer through hearing that @#%@#%#@ obnoxious cheer as it will be...
BAMA OVER AUBURN

I went 3-1 last week in SEC games against BCS competition to put me at 39-10 for the season. Here are the rest of the picks for this week:

CLEMSON OVER SOUTH CAROLINA... Another tough loss and bad ending to a season for South Carolina and Steve Spurrier. Clemson is on a high heading to their first ACC championship game.

OLE MISS OVER MISS ST... Dan Mullen has done a great job at State but the mrs has more talent on both sides of the ball and are also in a good place after the big win over LSU.

FLORIDA OVER FLORIDA ST... This one should be closer than expected as Florida's offense has not been dominant and while Florida St has not been good they have consistently battled.

TENNESSEE OVER KENTUCKY... Everyone has been down on Tennessee since the Dexter McCluster debacle but a two game sweep of Vandy and Kentucky has padded many a Tennessee season. Kentucky is a good tough team but I think the Vols come out on top.

ARKANSAS OVER LSU... Les Miles has been roundly criticized and laughed at. The coaching against the mrs was abysmal. It cannot be positive for the team. Meanwhile Arkansas and Ryan Mallett have steadily gained steam. Mallett is now one of the best in the country.

GEORGIA TECH OVER GEORGIA... Look for Georgia to come back and play tough as they did against Auburn. Unfortunately it is not Chan Gailey on that other sideline anymore. It is Paul Johnson and while it should be closer than expected Tech will win.