Entering this season, Auburn was viewed as a team that could finish somewhere around 8-4 and maybe crack the AP Top 25. After getting to a bowl game a year ago, Auburn needs to win four of its last five games to keep that slim dream alive. Losing at Missouri to a depleted Tigers team was brutal. Brady Cook went to the hospital, got an MRI, returned and then led Mizzou on a game-winning drive.
At 2-5 on the season and 0-4 in SEC play, there is a chance that Auburn may not only go 0-for-8 in league play, but they could conceivably lose out. The Tigers could face three teams in SEC play with some chance of making the playoff in Alabama, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt. Their other SEC game is on the road this week at Kentucky. Their other remaining game is vs. a 5-1 ULM team at Jordan-Hare.
Looking at Auburn’s upcoming schedule, it would not be shocking if this team were to finish 2-10…
|
Date |
Auburn Tigers opponent |
|---|---|
|
Oct. 26 |
at Kentucky Wildcats |
|
Nov. 2 |
vs. Vanderbilt Commodores |
|
Nov. 9 |
Bye |
|
Nov. 16 |
vs. ULM Warhawks |
|
Nov. 23 |
vs. Texas A&M Aggies |
|
Nov. 30 |
at Alabama Crimson Tide |
I don’t know if that mark is bad enough for athletic director John Cohen to move on from Freeze, but why did he leave his alma mater of Mississippi State to hire the disgraced former head coach at Ole Miss for this? It has been a year from hell for Auburn, but nobody could have seen this team be at the very bottom of the SEC midway through October. This has been an umitigated disaster for the Tigers.
Auburn should have never fired Gus Malzahn. The Tigers are as bad as they were under Bryan Harsin.
Auburn may lose out: Could Hugh Freeze get fired after a 2-10 season?
If Auburn wants to make a bowl game, it starts by beating Kentucky in Lexington. The Wildcats are 3-4 on the season and will need a Week 9 win to keep their slim bowl dreams alive. Auburn would then have to probably beat Vanderbilt at home to make it more of a reality. Keep in mind that Diego Pavia has already defeated Auburn when Freeze was the head coach when he was at New Mexico State…
So if Auburn got to 4-5 heading into the bye, you would hope the Tigers could keep the momentum rolling with a win at home over a decent Group of Five team in ULM. From there, you need to split their final two games of the season at home vs. Texas A&M and at Alabama. The Aggies and Crimson Tide may be in the mix for College Football Playoff contention by the time they face the Tigers this season.
For as bad as it looks for Freeze and Auburn right now, the Tigers need to either lose out or finish the year at 3-9 for them to potentially be looking for a new head coach. Cohen would have egg on his face for making such a terrible hire. Moving on from Freeze after two years would make this the most toxic job in the SEC by far. Then again, if this becomes untenable, Auburn might not have a choice…
For as confident as Cohen was hiring Freeze, it has to be anything but that at this point of the season.
