The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-11-28
LOUISIANA TIE CHAMPION
 OF THE DIXIE GRIOIRON
Auburn lmmoVably Trenched In Second Place-Vanderbilt and SeWanee Follow, Then All In a Bunch.
 Alabama's Record.
By HUGH w. ROBERTS.

being better punched than in many years, and the games as a result being closer and harder fought.
 The year ends with the magnificent team of the Louisiana State university firmly and immovably established in first place.
 Auburn follows. There is no expert in the south who can put the great team of the Orange and Blue on lower basis. No one can. successfully contend that Vanderbilt. in other seasons the strongest of the strong. can. by even stretch or the imagination, approach the station of Auburn.
 After the Orange and Blue it is prob- able that Sewanee and Vanderbilt should be given rank Following, the entire southern field is punched Thanksgiving found no great difference in the compara- tive strengths of Alabama, Tennessee, the Georgia Tech and Georgia. Tulane, hay ing played so few members of the s. I. A A., cannot be given proper rank, nor can the Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical Clemson's season, in spite of several game fights, was one of continual defeat
 In the beginning Tennessee and Tech outranked Alabama, and Georgia was about neck and neck. When the season closed it is probable that Alabama's 8 strength was a trife greater than either of it's nearest competitors. On the seasons work, therefore. it is probably just that all should be ranked in a bunch.
 Some Reasons Cited.
 Charges of ineligibility have been pre- ferred against Louisiana, but from the defense of President Boyd, who is vice president of the Louisiana and Texas di- vision of the S. I. A. A., 1t is evident that the executive committee will clear i the magnificent team of the ugly charges preferred by Tulane.
 Therefore, Louisiana having conclusive l ly defeated Auburn on it's own grounds, cannot be placed in any other than the very highest position.
 By defeating sewanee to 0. utterly crushing the Georgia Tech and clearly outclassing Georgia, Auburn is entitled to second place without doubt especially as Sewanee outplayed Vanderbilt in their tie affair of Thursday.
 Sewanee's only defeat of the season was at the hands of Auburn. and inasmuch as it is evident that Vanderbilt would have won from all others in the south save Auburn, the CommodoEes and the Tigers are given an equal rating.
 Prior to Tennessee's defeat Thursday by Alabama. Levene's machine ranked after Vanderbilt and Sewanee, for the noun taineers had trimmed Georgia conclusive ly, had easily taken the scalp of Clemson, and had defeated Tech in Atlanta, which, we submitted, is difficult task to ac- complish. But when Alabama, having won all it's games with the exception of the battle against Tech, which was ter minated in favor of the Hesman crew Il to 6, walked into and simply outclassed Tennessee, the ranking of the mountain eers naturally took a great slump. Tech was represented by a worthy team this season, although three of it's most inn portant battles were defeats, Heisman losing to Auburn A to 0, to Tennessee 6 to 5, and Sewanee by similar score. Tech defeated Alabama Il to and Clem- son by the overwhelming score of 90 to g.
 The A to defeat of Tech by Auburn, the to fights of Tech against Sewanee and Tennessee on following Saturdays
 and the Tech victory of % to over Clen-
 son-all within the space of a month serve better than any other matter in Illustrating the ranying power of the
 Teach team, and the powerful machine which represented Auburn this season. The Georgia team was a good one, too. Georgia defeated Clemson and tied Ala
 bama. lost it's Tennessee battle by close
 score, and was overwhelmingly licked by l Auburn.
 AIabama's Splendid Showing. Alabama's season was a most success full one Alabama won from Cincinnati, l the Haskell Indians and Tennessee, tied i Georgia in a very pretty fight, and lost
 to Tech, Il to g.
 l When weight and inexperience are con- 1 sidered. the Alabama aggregation was the l most phenomenal in the south. Pollard s l men tipped the beam at 152 1-4 Further | more, of the 16 men in the Alabama squad, | each of whom appeared in championship i games this season, 10 were broken into ranks just before the opening of hos 1 tilities this year. Of the remaining six, 1 Green, Gresham and Edwards were sub l stitutes last season, which leaves Pratt | Reidy and Burks the only two-year men 1 on the Alabama team.
 Alabama's showing this season, in con- I sideration of the foregoing facts, Is mar vicious. The record is a splendid compl- l ment to the coaching of Dr. J. w H. | Pollard the mette or the Alabamlans | and the gameness of their thin red line"
 Birmingham Football Center. Locally the season has been a great one In spite of the fact that Tech played it's entire schedule in Atlanta, and Vanderbilt is homed in Nashville, Birmingham saw more championship s. I. A. A. games than any other southern city.
 And without exception, the popular favorite won in each instance. Birmingham witnessed the Auburn Howard, the Alabama Howard, the Au- burn n-Sewanee, the Alabama Cincinnati, the