You talking about Clemson-Auburn? One game? Between a top ACC title contender and a team that will have to win a dogfight to finish 4th in its division of the SEC?

Based on what we've seen so far, Auburn may not even be in the top half of the SEC. Alabama, LSU, Arkansas, Georgia and South Carolina all look clearly better, while Tennessee, Missouri and Mississippi State all look at least as good and maybe better. We haven't seen A&M yet, but they could very well be better, too. Florida is probably about even with them at this point.

I'd say the only SEC teams right now I would make Auburn a clear favorite to beat are Ole Miss, Kentucky and maybe Vandy. And that's a big "maybe" on Vandy.

That said, we're all of one game (none for A&M) into the season, so it's way too early to judge how good teams are. Still, I expect Auburn to finish no better than 4th in the West, and that they will have a tough battle to finish that high. Clemson, on the other hand, will contend for, and may very well win, its division in the ACC and is as good a bet as anyone to win the overall conference title. A game between these two is hardly indicative of the relative strengths of the conferences.

Tennessee and North Carolina State are much more comparable teams, based on where they will likely stand within their respective conferences.

This post was edited on 9/5/12 at 12:25 pm