Trying to be positive

[bruisemeister]

It hurts losing by 24 points. However the season is not lost. I am not saying the Hogs will win the national or SEC title. I am not even saying they will make a bowl but here are some interesting facts of how other teams have had disappointment in banner seasons:
1.)The 1974 USC national championship team's only loss was in the season opener 22-7 to a 6-4-1 Razorback team.
2.) The 1977 Norte Dame national championship team's only loss was to a 5-6 Ole Miss team in game #2.
3.) The 1978 Alabama national championship team only loss was by 10 points in game #3 against the team they shared the title with, USC.
4.) The 1982 Penn State national championship team's only loss was in game #5 by 21 points to a 8-4 Alabama team.
5.) The 1983 Miami national championship team's only loss was in the season opener to a top 10 Florida team 28-3.
6.) The 1985 Oklahoma national championship team's only loss was by 13 points in game #4 at home against top 5 Miami.
7.) The 1990 Colorado national championship team had both a loss and a tie.
8.) The 1998 Florida State team played in the BCS championship game despite losing in their 2nd game by 17 to a 7-5 NC State team.
9.) The 2001 Nebraska team played in the BCS championship game despite losing 62-36 to Colorado in the Big 12 title game.
10) The 2001 LSU SEC Championship team went 5-3 in the conference including 2 double digit losses at home(to Ole Miss and Florida). The final in the Florida game was 44-15.
11.) The 2003 Oklahoma team played in the BCS championship game despite a 35-7 loss to Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game.
12.) The 2007 LSU national championship team had 2 losses. They were both to unranked teams.

Hog fans should know that some of the recent glory seasons involved embarassing losses.
1995- Despite losing the season opener on a fumble inside the 5 against SMU, the Hogs became the first team in the SEC West besides of Alabama to make the SEC championship game. It was aptly named "the season of firsts" due to the first ever victories over Alabama(on the road), Auburn and Mississippi State.
2006- the Hogs opened the season with a 50-14 loss at Fayetteville to USC. This was not one of those national champion USC teams either. It was a similar game as the one yesterday. The Hogs played them tough for a half but the score ended up being one sided. Despite that, the Hogs won their next 9 games and had an outside shot of the national title going into the final game against LSU. In fact, had the Hogs pulled that one and the SEC championship game against Florida off, they would have had a legitimate argument to make the BCS championship game.
2010- The Hogs played in their first BCS game despite blowing fourth quarter leads to Alabama and Auburn. In fact, Auburn scored 28 points in the fourth quarter in their 65-43 victory.
2011- The Hogs lost two games by 24 points(the same margin as yesterday)and still finished #5 in the nation. They even had an outside shot of the national championship going into the final game at LSU despite an early season loss to Alabama. The Hogs were #3 in the nation and a victory over #1 LSU may have catupulted them to the title game. However, that was not to be after LSU dominated after spotting the HOGS a 14-0 early lead.