Auburn's schedule anything but daunting?

I doubt Tommy T will get a ride off the field after 2009's announced nonconference opponent

Auburn had a big announcement of a future nonconference foe that will be visiting Jordan-Hare Stadium. A team that has won national championships. You say USC, again.

Nope. Try Furman.

Josh Moon's Sunday column bears reading because it is based on the adage: "those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it."

Auburn, which was denied from a berth in the title game in 2004 because of a I-AA (I refuse to use the subdivision classifications that the NCAA uses now) opponent on the schedule, is going right back into its old ways as far as scheduling.

This year's game against West Virginia is an exception to that rule.

When it comes time to play the pansies, think it through.

Why play Furman or The Citadel? If you're going to play a (formerly) I-AA opponent, why not go after an in-state opponent, like Alabama State, Alabama A&M or Jacksonville State? Do something good for the state. That would at least make the paying fans feel a little less robbed.

Of course, what would make them feel great about all of it is if AU wouldn't waste their time. That's what a game against Furman is -- a complete waste of time. It's also a waste of chalk and perfectly good sod.

Look, I understand that SEC teams play a brutal conference schedule. Even in 2004, when voters were discounting AU's case for a national championship because it played The Citadel, the Tigers still played more ranked opponents and had a stronger schedule than USC and Oklahoma.

But at the same time, Auburn learned a harsh lesson that year -- college football is all about perception and appearances.

Because you're not winning championships on the field. You're winning them in the minds of voters.

And in 2004, those voters were able to discredit the accomplishments of one of the best teams the SEC has ever seen based partly on the fact that a (formerly) I-AA opponent was on the schedule.

And yet, not four years later, here's Furman on the schedule.

There's a term for doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Read the rest here.