Auburn Tigers: Don't count us out

AUBURN, Ala. - Marcus McNeill knows skeptics need only look at NFL rosters to count Auburn out of title contention in 2005, since that's where the Tigers' biggest stars from last season are now playing.

The mammoth offensive tackle wants to focus on who's still here, not who's gone.

With Auburn's four best players parlaying an imperfect perfect season into first-round draft status, the team that went 13-0 but was shut out of the national title game in 2004 is picked to be No. 2 again - in the SEC West.

Warning: Tread lightly around McNeill if you're dismissing the Tigers.

"There's really no unrealistic goal," the 6-foot-9, 337-pounder said. "You never know what team's going to do what. I don't think we were picked to win anything last year, and we did extraordinary.

"I think we have just as much of a chance this year to do great things as we did last year."

The Tigers will have to do it with unproven players at quarterback and tailback, with Jason Campbell and running back duo Ronnie Brown and Carnell Williams all taken in the first round of the draft. Sophomore Brandon Cox replaces Campbell.

Cornerback Carlos Rogers, the Jim Thorpe Award winner as the nation's top defensive back, was also a first-round pick.

The Tigers thrust themselves into a Bowl Championship Series controversy unlike any before - the regular season ended with three unbeaten teams (Auburn, Oklahoma and Southern California) from BCS conference.

In the end, Auburn had to do its campaigning off the field, taking an "I told you so" attitude when top-ranked USC beat No. 2 Oklahoma 55-19 in the championship game.

No other team from a BCS automatic qualifying conference had gone 13-0 and not won at least a share of the national title, but the Tigers had to settle for a bittersweet Sugar Bowl, a No. 2 final ranking and their first Southeastern Conference title in 15 years.

"We buried that (game) film and that season," linebacker Travis Williams said. "To be successful this year, we can't focus on last year, so we buried those films and we won't bring them back out until it is time to show them to our kids."

The nation's top scoring defense should still be stout, but it's far less clear if the offense remains as formidable and balanced.

The Tigers are breaking in Cox, a former Alabama Mr. Football, who left the team before his freshman season because of a muscle disorder only to return and eventually win the job.

"You have to be the guy that gets things going and gets everybody in control," Cox said. "It's something I believe I can do."

Coach Tommy Tuberville knows it may get bumpy along the way.

"When you have a new quarterback," he said, "usually you're going to have to step back before you move forward."

Auburn was picked to finish behind LSU in the Western Division - just like last year. That's fine with Tuberville, whose team bombed in its only season as the SEC favorite two years ago, but has won at least a share of the SEC West title in four of the past five years.

"We kind of hide in the bushes every year," Tuberville said. "But we've pretty much been the team to beat. If you're going to Atlanta (for the title game), you're going to have to play us and beat us."

Also like last season, many are figuring the defense will have to compensate for a questionable offense. Last year's questions stemmed from having a new offensive coordinator in Al Borges, who wound up helping mold Campbell into a star.

"It's never like that. We're a team," defensive end Quentin Groves said. "We look at it like the offense is going to do their part and we're going to do our part.

"Once we get that mentality, who's going to stop us?"

For starters, maybe Georgia Tech, Auburn's tougher-than-usual season-opening opponent on Sept. 3.

Juniors Tre Smith and Kenny Irons replace Brown and Williams, but the two-tailback attack won't change. Smith redshirted last season with a shoulder injury. Irons sat out after transferring from South Carolina.

From the sidelines, they learned the benefit of keeping your egos in check and sharing the load.

"Nobody's going to be selfish. That's what we learned from Carnell and Ronnie Brown," Irons said.

Irons' brother, David, also has big sneakers to fill. He's replacing Rogers at cornerback.