Auburn Football Predicted to Finish Toward Bottom of SEC Standings

The Auburn Tigers could be in a spot to turn things around with their strong recruiting classes and notable overhauls via the transfer portal. However, they’re going to have to prove it. 

Auburn was predicted to finish 11th in the conference in the Preseason SEC Football Media Poll. They received a single vote to win the conference, tied with Tennessee and Ole Miss among programs that received votes. 

Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Kentucky and Missouri were the four schools that didn’t receive any votes to win the SEC. 

The Tigers are projected to finish ahead of Missouri, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi State in the standings and right behind Oklahoma. However, confidence is still higher for one of the programs that they are voted to finish ahead of in the standings. Vanderbilt received two votes to win the SEC for the first time ever. 

Auburn should take note. When any sign of a turnaround from a program is shown, they’ll start to win people over. 

Last season, Auburn finished 12th in the newly expanded SEC, which featured no divisions for the first time since the 1991 season. Expansion added divisions, and expansion ultimately took them away. Had the old divisions been around, they hypothetically would have been either third to last if Oklahoma had been in it, or second to last if you stick to how the divisions looked pre-expansion. 

Auburn hasn’t finished with a winning record overall or in conference since 2020. They haven’t won more than six games or finished ranked since 2019. It’s not entirely Hugh Freeze’s fault since the low expectations began before his arrival, but he’s responsible for raising them back to where they were in the previous decade. 

Any sign of improvement, and they’ll get a boost in the preseason polls next season. They’ve made changes that could spell change. They have a new starting quarterback, who has solid receiving options, and the defense and offensive line are strong suits. 

All of that is nice, but the win column is the stat that still hasn’t changed. Time to prove it. Perhaps the low predictions provide some motivation.

More From Auburn Tigers on SI