Why Auburn is Still Alive for SEC Championship Game

There has been a lot of shakeup in the SEC through four weeks, which opens up the door for Auburn to reach the SEC Championship Game.

Even though Auburn has already lost two games and is most likely out of the National Title picture, with just one SEC loss they are still alive for the SEC Championship game.

As I stated before the season, there are a lot of good teams in the SEC this year, but not a lot of great teams with the exception of maybe Alabama.

With that, it really opens up the door for a team like Auburn to sneak their way into the SEC Championship game.

Right now Auburn’s lone loss in the SEC came against Texas A&M. The Aggies area already 2-0 in conference play with wins against Auburn and Arkansas in the SEC West.

In order for Auburn to win the SEC West now, we’ll most likely need Texas A&M to lose at least two games. If history repeats itself, Kevin Sumlin teams are known to have hot starts and then fizzle late.

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They still have Tennessee at home, Alabama on the road, Mississippi State on the road, Ole Miss at home and LSU at home. Texas A&M has been really impressive this year, but I don’t see how they don’t lose at least two of those games.

Since Auburn has already beaten LSU, we’ll be cheering for them the rest of the way; although we probably need them to lose at least one more game as well, hopefully to Missouri or Florida in the SEC East.

Ole Miss is another team that Auburn has to watch out for. They’re currently 1-1 in SEC play with Alabama and Georgia already behind them. They’re other SEC East game is against Vanderbilt, so we’ll have to hope they get beat-up by the SEC West. They have to play Arkansas and LSU before we travel to face them in Oxford.

One more loss for Ole Miss and I would not be surprised if they pack it in.

I’m not too worried about Mississippi State and Arkansas as they both already have an SEC loss with a few more destined to come. Plus, we have the opportunity in a couple of weeks to eliminate both of them ourselves.

And then there is big bad Alabama. I don’t think this is the dominant Alabama team that we’re used to seeing, and I would not be surprised if they lose two SEC games this year.

They got over the hump against Ole Miss, but they still have a gauntlet of a schedule left. After they play Kentucky this weekend they’ll face Arkansas and Tennessee on the road, Texas A&M at home, LSU on the road and then Mississippi State at home.

I don’t think there is any way they get through that schedule without losing at least one game.

With that being said, Auburn would have to win the Iron Bowl in order to get to the SEC Championship game.

As you see from my post below previewing Auburn’s schedule the rest of the season, I think the Tigers finish the season with three SEC losses. However, if they can beat Ole Miss or Alabama I like their chances of making it to the SEC Championship game.

Next: Predicting the Rest of the 2016 Auburn Football Schedule

A win against Alabama at the end of the season would be more meaningful.

I think Auburn’s schedule is pretty favorable the rest of the season with the hardest games left being road games against Ole Miss, Georgia and Alabama. Unless Georgia improves dramatically over the next month and a half, Auburn should win that game.

The SEC West is very competitive this year, so it’s possible a 3-loss team could get into the SEC Championship game, but more than likely Auburn can only suffer one more SEC defeat to stay alive.

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