Auburn's got offense, but does it have enough defensive firepower to get to Atlanta?

Malzahn and his tricked-up offense does give Auburn, which finished fourth in the West in the poll (voted on by the SEC's football information directors)and is getting a lot of preseason national love because, a chance for a big year. Frankly, have you seen the Tigers' schedule? Now it's not an easy one, but when the road games are Mississippi State, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Alabama, you've got to like Auburn's chances to, at worst split and, realistically, go 3-1. This could be a heck of an Auburn year if it can find a defense. We are not not sure that's going to happen this fall, but the Tigers are bringing in some playmakers on defense that might help win a game or two. It's a really big if, too. In the East, SEC fans should take Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks seriously. Go ahead, make fun of quarterback Stephen Garcia, but we could name six or seven SEC teams that would love to have Garcia's talent. Spurrier's got playmakers around him and his defense should be one of the league's best. The usual suspects are going to be challenging for Atlanta. But this is a year where a team like Arkansas , Auburn or South Carolina could be the teams with all the buzz in November.