Saturday, Jul. 25, 2009

Auburn notes: Media drop Tigers to 5th place in SEC West

HOOVER, Ala. — A year after picking Auburn as the SEC West favorite, the media dropped the Tigers all the way down to fifth in the division.

Predictably, defending national champions Florida and Alabama were chosen as the favorites to win their respective divisions, with the Gators earning 63 of 64 votes to win the conference championship game (Ole Miss got the other vote).

LSU, Ole Miss and Arkansas followed the Crimson Tide in the West before Auburn made the list, ahead of only Mississippi State.

“I don’t buy into anything,” Auburn defensive end Antonio Coleman said. “It’s all preseason hype. If you do this, they think that.”

Florida was the unanimous decision to win the SEC East. Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee rounded out the top three spots.

Vanderbilt was fifth, and Kentucky was sixth.

“Everybody’s got an opinion. Everybody’s entitled to their opinion,” Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. “Last time I checked, I don’t think anything at the end of the year had anything to do with what they said at the beginning. It’s neither here nor there to me.”

After being tabbed as the media’s pick to go to Atlanta for the SEC title game last year, Auburn finished 2-6 in conference play, tied with Mississippi State and Arkansas for last place in the division.

Quarterback quandary

The Tigers are 11 days from resuming the wide-open race at quarterback during two-a-days, but Chizik doesn’t feel rushed to make a decision on a starter.

“I’d like a guy to step up tomorrow,” he said. “We would love to get that thing cleared up, but just the fact of the matter is it’s not (clear). It’s open. It’s wide open. It’s kind of a unique dynamic.”

Kodi Burns and Neil Caudle finished the spring neck-and-neck for the No. 1 spot. In addition to two freshmen who arrive this fall — Tyrik Rollison and Clint Moseley — senior Chris Todd returns to the mix after sitting out in the spring following offseason shoulder surgery.

“He’s as close to 100 percent as he’s been since I’ve been here,” Chizik said. “There’s no question about that.”

Chizik doesn’t think the fact that Todd only took mental reps in the spring will be a major disadvantage.

“He would have a better chance than someone who doesn’t have that experience,” Chizik said. “He’s been exposed to a lot. He’s played a lot. He’s an older guy. All those things that come with you being able to adapt and adjust to an adverse situation. I think a guy in his shoes has a better opportunity to do that than a guy who doesn’t have that experience.”

Top Billings

Montez Billings will be ready for practice when Auburn reports on Aug. 4, but Chizik said the wide receiver still has to clear up some off-the-field issues.

Billings, who caught 24 passes for 277 yards last year, tops among the Tigers’ returning receivers, sat out of all of spring practice because of an academic issue. Despite that, he still graduated with a degree in public administration in May.