out of this post and turn it into a flame war.
We'd all love to have won the SEC West this year, but most of us reasonable posters expected at least 2-3 losses this season. It was disappointing to lose the Egg Bowl and get that 4th loss. I'd be a liar if I said differently. However, even if we had lost only 2 SEC games this season, it wouldn't have mattered. Bama still would have won the SEC West. They were just too good this season.
We didn't anoint ourselves as a top 10 team. The media did. As a matter of fact, some media outlets had more realistic predictions for us, but people on both sides chose to ignore them and talk about the top ten rankings because it fit their respective arguments. Media expectations are for talking heads. Just like recruiting services, they are just educated guesses. They don't always pan out.
When you consider this and the fact that Nutt took over a team coming off 4 straight losing seasons (not to mention Eddie O), it's easy to get excited about another Cotton Bowl. We just had back to back 8 win regular seasons with a chance for back to back NYD bowl and 9 win seasons. The last time we had back to back 8 win seasons was 89-90 under Brewer. That was 20 years ago. We had not beaten UT since 1983. The last time we beat Ark, LSU, and UT in the same season was 1983. That's over 25 years ago. The last time we went to back to back NYD bowls was like 70-71. That's 38 years ago. The last time we beat LSU & Arkansas both in back to back seasons was 52-53. That's 46 years ago.
I understand your optimism in regards to Mullen. I've said many times that I think he is a good coach and will turn it around. However, if you can't understand our pleasure with back to back NYD bowls, then how can you possibly expect the average OM fan to understand your optimism in regards to a 5-7 season. Take out the ridiculous schedule and head to head matchup smack (because outside of our fan bases, nobody else cares about our SOS or Egg Bowl), because at the end of the day going to and winning bowls and championships is all that matters in the big scheme. It depends on whats more important in your mind. If talking smack at your local MS church, office, or cafe is what matters most to you, then certainly the Egg Bowl victory is important. And we certainly love to have won the Egg Bowl, won the SEC West, and had a chance at an SEC title, but the fact that all those things didn't happen won't diminish a good season. Any bulldog fan that wouldn't take back to back NYD bowls needs to tell me when the last time MSU did it.