#1 Auburn vs. #2 Oregon for the BCS National Championship

Well here we are, one day out from the big game.  I tell you right off the bat that while as I have said many times before how I hate the current college football postseason I do love all the attention Auburn is getting.  This is just great.  It is all Auburn, all the time.  It is great that we were the first national championship game to be on ESPN because wow we all know that ESPN can promote.  I can't get enough of the promos with the big "#1" next to Auburn every time.  After seeing that I am so glad that Auburn ended up #1.  Every SportsCenter has a big segment on the game with more Auburn.  We are all over websites, newspapers, etc...  Hopefully we will win the game to complete the whole thing but regardless it has been a great couple of months soaking all this up. 

Knowing it also has to really annoy LSU, Florida, Georgia and most of all Bama fans, makes it even better.  Of course, it won't be near as good if we lose but the whole deal with Bama is pretty funny.  They lay down about the best season you could possibly have last year winning everything including their first Heisman Trophy.  They then come into this year ranked #1 and now we are one game away from completely matching the feat (!!!!!!) coming back from down 24-0 to beat Bama along the way.  With a win in the big game, it just does not get better than that.

For me this game is not the end all, be all for me as an Auburn fan.  As I have said, the system has been and is a complete joke.  The 30 to 40 day lay off invalidates the system.  Any system that uses varied computer and popularity polls is completely ridiculous.  I could go on and on.  I should rather say that there is and never will be nothing legitimate about this system.  The only thing sadder than making these games too big is continually trying to inflate your opinion of your team and yourself by going on and on about how many of these "titles" your team can claim.

On the flip side though I will defend the Auburn fans that are really into finally getting into this game.  First, as I have also said before, if you have to be a part of this ridiculous system you might as well be in the best game.  Second, the only good thing about the bowl system is getting some cool matchups and Auburn vs. Oregon is a great one.  Finally, if you do not hate the system as much as me it is awesome to finally make it to this game.  The Bama fans love to pooh pooh that going on and on about how they "expect" to get to this game and it is just standard practice for them.  If that is true then those Bama fans are missing out.  They will never know how it feels to be getting to this game the first time and the game becoming the hardest ticket to get in the history of sports.  They will never know that excitement and I hate to tell them but they are missing out.

Back to the game,  I did hold a couple of these "shoe box top" monster tickets in my hand as my parents were some of the few people lucky enough to be able to get some from Auburn.  It has been incredible how the ticket prices have shot through the roof thanks to a recipe of two hungry programs and a smaller stadium.  It has to be crazy in Arizona about now.  Locals and Oregon fans are probably getting tired of hearing "War Eagle!".   There is just something special about the Auburn family and I bet it is a big party all the way to and all over Phoenix, Arizona.  The whole thing was just way too expensive for me to contemplate going to but our family plans to have a big party at our house.  Again I am very thankful that I got to go down to Jordan Hare for the LSU and Georgia games as I still think it is the best experience.

As for the game itself, I know we are the better team.  At the end of the season, nobody could have beaten Auburn.  Cam and the rest of the team were playing at such a high level.  Cam's passing was unbelievable down the stretch against Georgia, Bama and South Carolina.  That is the one thing that the layoff will probably effect.  It is also just Auburn's luck to be the first SEC team to have to play in this game against a team that has SEC speed.  Ohio State, Oklahoma and Texas are not close.  On the flip side, Auburn is fast as well and bigger and stronger than Oregon.  Auburn also has one of the best to ever play college football in Cam Newton and a great supporting cast as well.  It is the best offense Auburn has ever had and a defense with some great players that has steadily improved.  I think we are the better team and I sure hope we prove it one more time.

Finally, there have been so many cool things that highlight the Auburn family that this game has brought out but I think one of the coolest has been the "Win it for..." web site.   Here is my entry...
"Win it for my Mom and Dad who both graduated from Auburn in the early 60s, who both love Auburn more than any people I have ever known, who both had to endure the Bear Bryant era and all that went with it, who loved and enjoyed Sullivan and Beasley and were there for 49-26 over Bama the year I was born,  who raised my brother and I to love Auburn as well, who both loved Pat Dye and all he did for Auburn, who sacrificed to buy our family season football tickets for the last thirty years where so many great memories have been made, who sacrificed even more so that my brother and I could also be Auburn graduates, who have stuck with Auburn through thick and thin and endured every tough loss, low point and near miss Auburn has gone through, who love watching the eagle soar before every home game, who will be there next season ready to go whether we win this game or not but who would appreciate this win more than anyone, win it for my Mom and Dad." 

WAR EAGLE.