Auburn Program in a decline

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How can you say that? Stupid comments like this make us look really bad.

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It's not a stupid comment. If you look at the historical record, you will find that rarely have Alabama and Auburn both thrived at the same time.

Even though Auburn has done an impressive job of succeeding in a state where most of the population is aligned against them--and even though they have done a great job in out-of-state recruiting, even more impressive when you consider that their geographic location doesn't exactly inspire excitement in a lot of prospects--they still will not be able to prosper if Saban totally dominated recruiting in the state, as he seems to have since coming to Tuscaloosa.

Of course, he is probably cheating in the great Bama tradition--so if he gets caught, that might upset the apple cart, but the way things are going now, Auburn is going to have a hard time keeping itself afloat in the coming years.

LSU would have the same problem if it had a legitimate in-state competitor, the way the Mississippi and Alabama schools do.....

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Then again Bama has shown a propensity to do things illegally so who knows.

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like blow and escallades

So you think the Tide is turning?

Can't remember the days when Auburn didn't have a decent football program.

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Yeah, Southern Miss and Miss State have been battling it out for recruits of late.

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MSU signs a few of the top 10 prospects in Mississippi almost every year. It is not enough to make them competitive, but it is enough to prevent Ole Miss from getting the kind of traction it would need to be fully competitive in the SEC. (And though USM rarely signs blue-chippers, they did get Deandre Brown last year, which hurt)

When Vaught was winning, it was because he completely dominated recruiting in the state, the way LSU does in Louisiana now. MSU never got ANYTHING and neither did any out-of-state school.

Ditto with fan support--at one time just about everybody in Mississippi who was not an alumnus of MSU was an Ole Miss fan--as is still the case with LSU in Louisiana and Bama in Alabama.

It just becomes a vicious circle. When you don't have the talent, you can't win....and when you don't win, you can't get the talent....and it is damn hard to break out of that cycle when you have another SEC school operating in a fairly small state. Talented kids leave for out-of-state schools that have a better chance of winning.....and on and on it goes....

Believe me, Auburn could not do much of anything when Bear was at his apex.....and they will go into a tailspin again if Saban continues to dominate in-state recruiting and sticks around....AND assuming boosters don't get caught handing out candy AGAIN......

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Auburn relies heavily on Georgia and Florida talent for its program. Auburn will never recruit the way UF, LSU, UGA, and Bama are capable of recruiting. However, Tubbs can flat out coach and they will find players to fit their needs.

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people say this, but auburn has had a serious decline in talent recently and it only appears to be getting worse with their current recruiting class

I would say that Bama has probably out recruited Auburn over the majority of the last 10 years. Tubbs is just a better coach and Auburn players have more heart and desire than the Bama guys do when it comes to the rivalry.

Auburn was a better program in the mid to late 80's. Bama was the better program in the early to mid 90's. Both were pretty equal in the latter 90's. Auburn has won 7 of the last 8.

Let's see how the '08 Iron Bowl plays out before we jump ahead.

I have actually been surprised to see this happen so quickly after Saban took the Bama job. I figured Tubby would be able to compete with him in recruiting for a few years just based on AU's recent success over Bama. If Saban is already out recruiting him, then I see little hope for Auburn staying at the same level they have been over the past 6 years. I think the recruiting disparity had a lot to do with Tubby's decision to rework their offense and make it more exciting. He was trying to make a big splash to stay relevant, and it may be backfiring on him.

Auburn was competitive in recruiting until 2 years ago. This will be their third straight poor recruiting season. I'm sorry, but that will eventually show up in the field. Bobby Johnson is a really good coach, but with marginal talent, he can't even get to six wins. I'm not saying that AU turns into Vandy, but they could easily slip to the mid level of SC, UK, and Arkansas. Within two years, Auburn will be on the same talent level as these programs. Even with better coaching, they will not be able to retain their place in the upper echelon. As much as I hate Bama, you can book it now. They WILL take Auburn's place as the other top program in the West. Auburn, Arkansas, and Ole Miss will fight it out in the middle. Moo U will hit bottom because they have the least amount of talent in the division.