If you haven't heard, Alabama is good. Yeah, I know, you've heard it and seen it. And the Hogs had the misfortune of being their first SEC victim two weeks ago. Alabama has been outstanding in their SEC openers over the last twenty years, winning all but one, I think. The Hogs have been a chief victim of that trend of late, but it is another trend that I want to mention here, one that I've mentioned before in a previous post, but still deserving of more attention due to just how long lasting it has been. The trend or curse is that the Hogs for every year that they've been in the SEC, except for Danny Ford's 1995 team, they've lost their next conference game after having their first conference loss of the season. If you are Auburn, the following should give you a great deal of hope that you'll be victorious come Saturday night. Take a look at this futility and just try not to weep:
2010: A loss to Alabama (20-24) on September 25th followed by a loss at Auburn (43-65) on October 16th.
2009: A loss to Georgia (41-52) on September 19th followed by a loss at Alabama (7-35) on September 26th.
2008: A loss to Alabama (14-49) on September 20th followed by a loss to Florida (7-38) on October 4th.
2007: A loss at Alabama (38-41) on September 15th followed by a loss to Kentucky (29-42) on September 22nd.
2006: A loss to LSU (26-31) on November 24th followed by a loss to Florida (28-38) on December 2nd.
2005: A loss to Vanderbilt (24-28) on September 10th followed by a loss at Alabama (13-24) on September 24th.
2004: A loss at Florida (30-45) on October 2nd followed by a loss at Auburn (20-38) on October 16th.
2003: A loss to Auburn (3-10) on October 11th followed by a loss to Florida (28-33) on October 18th.
2002: A loss to Alabama (12-30) on September 28th followed by a loss at Tennessee (38-41) on October 5th.
2001: A loss to Tennessee (3-13) on September 8th followed by a loss at Alabama (10-31) on September 22nd.
2000: A loss to Georgia (7-38) on September 30th followed by a loss at South Carolina (7-27) on October 14th.
1999: A loss at Alabama (28-35) on September 25th followed by a loss at Kentucky (20-31) on October 2nd.
1998: A loss at Tennessee (24-28) on November 14th followed by a loss at Miss. State (21-22) on Nov. 21st.
1997: A loss at Florida (7-56) on October 4th followed by a loss to South Carolina (13-39) on October 18th.
1996: A loss to Alabama (7-17) on September 21st followed by a loss to Florida (7-42) on October 5th.
1995: A loss to Tennessee (31-49) on October 7th followed by a WIN in Memphis (a neutral field, not an SEC stadium) over Ole Miss (13-6) on Oct. 14th.
1994: A loss at South Carolina (0-14) on September 10th followed by a loss to Alabama (6-13) on September 17th.
1993: A loss to Tennessee (14-28) on October 9th followed by a loss in Jackson to Ole Miss (0-19) on October 16th.
1992: A loss to Alabama (11-38) on September 19th followed by a loss to Georgia (3-27) on October 3rd.
Wow! I mean, Wow! That's a lot of not bouncing back when it comes to playing conference opponents. The streak actually goes back to the SWC days. We followed losses in 1991 and in 1990 with another loss during our two last years in the SWC. I have no doubt that the Hogs have plenty of motivation to beat Auburn. But if somebody knows how to get this on their bulletin board there in the Broyles Center, I think it would be a good idea to post it. The time has come for this to end. I at one time thought this was just a Nutt thing, but my research and recent years show that it is an SEC thing with the Hogs. Outside of possibly Vanderbilt, I doubt any other team has this type of monkey on their back. Time to get it off by beating what is an Auburn team that you certainly don't want anywhere near you on the scoreboard come the 4th quarter. Combine their ability to win close games with this bad mojo that the Hogs are carrying around, and I think a victory would really be pushing against the current.