Anyway, we all do it, either believing it, or hedging our bets before the ECFGs. When I first met CD in Austin in 2007, we were ranked 1 or 2 or something like that, and CD asked me where I had us on ELA's user poll I was participating in that year. I said something like 5th or 6th, and he looked at me as if to say "Go on...." which is when I elaborated on the rash of injuries the defense was piling up and how the D hadn't been the same of late, but that if/when they got healthy and began stopping teams at the level they previously had, I'd probably move them up. After which he said, "Oh, I see. You're poor-mouthing."
Though said lightly and with mirth, there was probably some truth to it. To be sure, I wanted them to be the #1 team, and I thought they could be, if healthy and playing well, but in an effort not to get my hopes up I likely magnified every flaw I could find and refused to put them past other teams I thought may be doing better in those areas.
The ECFGs rewarded me, with chaos, a roller-coaster ride, an SEC title with a backup QB, and even an NC
Now, of course, the ECFGs are off the table. Somebody somewhere in this fanbase sold our collective soul to the devil for whatever voodoo brought Burrow here and took him from Buckeye also-ran to Heisman winner, and now there is no amount of groveling that will make the ECFGs hear us.
Sandbagging entails a genuine underlying belief in one's team that is hidden either for humility or for favor from the ECFGs. We have no such belief, ergo, we can no longer be sandbaggers.
Dammit.
