Does Early Alarm Spell Doom For Auburn?

Is there really a correlation between Auburn's poor play and the time of its games? When word came down that the Tigers were headed to the Cotton Bowl, the first reaction from many was one of doom and gloom. After all, Auburn is a paltry 2-2 in games played before noon this season.

If you're checking your schedule, the Cotton Bowl kick-offs at 10:40 CT. Ouch! Is it coincidence or is there really something to it? The evidence is quite convincing. Auburn came out flat as a pancake against Arkansas and never recovered. They never did show up against Georgia. Both were early games.

And what about Ole Miss? That game went down to the final series. The craziest thing about this whole mess is the fact that the team practices in the morning (before noon) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. How can you not be ready for a game when it takes place during your normal practice hours?

So how do you handle it if your Tommy Tuberville?

"We'll make it a special emphasis that our guys understand that they have to get more rest, more sleep," he said. "We'll have a little different routine there because it's a bowl game. Nebraska has to do the same thing. It's a 10:40 kickoff time, so we'll have to get them up pretty early.

"We'll address that the two games we lost were early in the morning this year. We'll address being able to handle the early morning and be able to wake themselves up."

My guess is that if Auburn does lose, it will have more to do with the suspension of three of its key players than the start time of the game.