re: Did anyone expect Gus to have a top 10 team?

I did not. He's done a great job, but they will not be in the top 10 after UGA clinches the West for Bama on Saturday.

I'm an Auburn homer but I don't think Auburn is one of the 10 best footballs teams in the country. They have earned the spot with their on field performance and record though. We've beaten one team I thought we would lose too (aTm) and won the two games I thought were a tossup (Ole Miss and Moo St). 8-2 was my high expectation to this point so it's not like Auburn is way out in front of the curve.

I think Auburn takes a L vs the best 7-8 teams in the country (not based on rankings, the 7-8 teams I think are the most talented well coached and strongest). They just don't have the interior run stopper to compete with most of the best teams and trying to make up for that deficiency opens up things on the outside which good teams can exploit. From about 8-15 I think it's a toss up but would favor the other team. From about 15-30 I think it's a tossup but would favor Auburn.

No way. I saw them play last year.

I expected improvement, but more to the tune of being competitive against the good teams rather than the game being over in the 2nd quarter and eventually losing by 30-40 points.

FTR, I was in favor of hiring Gustav - been a favorite of mine since 2006, and I really think Arky would be a perennial contender if they had run Nutt off a year early and handed him the reins. And he was clearly the architect of our success in 2010 (and just as clearly was undermined by his boss as 2011 progressed).

That said, I predicted 5-7 (2-6) this season, so our progress has been totally unexpected.

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Crimsonpanther13

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I thought the hiring of Malzahn was a joke and easily the worst hire of the new coaches. I still might be right

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I expected improvement, there was no way they could be as bad as '12. Once I saw that Frazer wouldn't be the starting QB, I immediately predicted an 8-4 season with a good bowl game.

They've gotten progressively better on offense each week. The DL seems to have hit a plateau - they showed improvement early in the season, but look to have hit their peak already. Their LB corps is not on a SEC level yet but they aren't atrocious either.

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The DL seems to have hit a plateau - they showed improvement early in the season, but look to have hit their peak already. Their LB corps is not on a SEC level yet but they aren't atrocious either.

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DL is still getting better. Not as obvious, but they are. The problem is our linebackers aren't filling the gaps to stop the run. Still. Look at bama against LSU. Bama's Dline was not making many tackles, but they held their ground, ate up the blockers and Mosely cleaned up. Our problem is no CJM.

Our Dline is getting in the backfield and pressuring the qb plenty. It is just our LBs are still not getting it done.

I was expecting 6-8 wins this season from Gus. I knew the team would've improved but not to this extent. The OL is the group that has improved the most and has really anchored the offense this season.

I figured 7 wins was likely, 8 was attainable, and 9 was probably the ceiling.

I figured an upset against one of TAMU, UGA, LSU, or Bama. If there wasn't an upset then, at the very least, I expected to look much more competitive in those games.

I also figured we'd drop one of Arky, Ole Miss, Miss St, or UT. The only way I saw getting 9 was not dropping one of those but I figured it would happen, especially with one of the road games.

I predicted 9-3... i'll gladly take 10-3 at worst and 12-1 at best for the season!