Auburn fans have experienced the ups and downs of scheduling tough non-conference opponents.
For every victory, such as Clemson in 2010 and Kansas State in 2007, there have been the nightmares of USC in 2003 and West Virginia in 2008. Non-conference games, whether at home, away or at a neutral site, are fun for not just fans, but players and coaches as well.
A trip to Kansas State on a Thursday night this upcoming season scares fans. The Wildcats are not the typical formidable opponent they would be during other years, but you know all of Manhattan, Kansas, will be rocking and ready to send our Tigers back home to the SEC a loser.
These games are what make college football the greatest sport in this country. The experience of seeing other college towns and meeting the fans of teams outside the SEC make these games circled dates on every Auburn fan's calendar. The players and coaches look forward to these games to prove not only Auburn's superiority, but the SEC's.
Many conversations and discussions lately have been of Auburn scheduling more competitive non-conference games in lieu of paying Directional State Tech University to come to our stadium for a whooping (and healthy paycheck).
I welcome a harder non-conference schedule. The SEC is, by far, the dominant college football conference in the nation. Go out and prove it on the field. The atmosphere at Jordan-Hare can be unrivaled at times, and recruits in town for a big game notice this.
Give Coach Malzahn reason to say, "If you come to Auburn, you will be playing in this atmosphere against the best teams in the nation." You can't tell me that wouldn't impress a recruit more than a Saturday afternoon game against Louisiana-Monroe.
As a fan, would you rather see Auburn beat Florida Atlantic by 50 again, or have a home-and-home series with Wisconsin?
Would you be more likely to attend a game against overmatched Samford or BCS-power Stanford?
Early season non-conference matchups are fun to watch and get hyped all offseason long. In a sport where voters have the final say (hello, 2004), there is not a better way to start the season than by pounding another powerhouse.
I applaud Jay Jacobs and the football program for scheduling games such as this year at Kansas State and against Louisville next year in Atlanta. (Who isn't looking forward to playing Bobby Petrino again next year?)
I would like to see more of it. Bring on the so-called "powers" of the Big Ten and the wannabes of the Pac-12. Let's show them how real football is played.
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