Auburn football: Preseason bowl predictions for the Tigers

It’s never too early to look at where the experts Auburn will end up at the end of the season.

Auburn football has made a bowl game in each of the last seven seasons and have won at least eight games in six of those seasons. So, I think it would probably be pretty safe to say that the Tigers will reach a bowl game in 2020 (assuming they even have them amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic).

However, the real question isn’t whether Auburn will make a bowl game or not. The real question is how successful will they be and as a result, which bowl game will they be participating in.

Like my recent article on where the Tigers fall in various preseason polls, predicting bowl matchups is a tricky business. And while they’re never super accurate, they are a helpful way to see what the perception of a given team as well as teams they are considered more or less equal to.

247Sports – Outback Bowl vs. Michigan

Auburn is very familiar with the Outback bowl. They played Minnesota in the game last season and faced off against Wisconsin in 2015 and overall, have played in the bowl game five times since it began in 1986.

If the Tigers are expected to once again play in the Outback, that usually means they’ll hover around the 8-10 mark. Unfortunately, Auburn is also 0-2 in their last two Outback Bowl appearances so maybe they can reverse their recent luck.

As for Auburn’s opponent, the Michigan Wolverines won nine games last season before falling to Auburn’s biggest rival in the most recent Sugar Bowl. Like Auburn, Michigan is seen as one of the hardest teams to predict going into the 2020 season so it kind of makes sense to stick the two teams together.

Sporting News – Outback Bowl vs. Michigan

Different website, same prediction. Since 1995, the Outback Bowl has been between an SEC team and Big Ten teams, usually between two teams that are ranked in the 10-25 range but not quite good enough to compete for a national championship/playoff appearance.

Once again looking at Michigan’s 2020 roster, they are usually around No. 15 range and like Auburn, feature a head coach that, if they fall short of expectations, could find themselves firmly on the hot seat.

Like Auburn, the Wolverines need to retool their offensive line but unlike Auburn, Michigan goes into 2020 with uncertainty at quarterback. With last year’s QB Shea Patterson now on the Kansas City Chiefs, Michigan will likely have to rely on either Dylan McCaffrey or Joe Milton – both talented options but neither have much field experience.

Saturday Blitz – Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl vs. California

My FanSided colleague, Aaron Gershon over at Saturdayblitz.com is the first person on the list not to see yet another Outback Bowl appearance in Auburn’s future.

On the downside, the Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl, while in a more exciting location, is a bit of a downgrade compared to the Outback Bowl.

Last season’s game was a blowout victory for the Washington Huskies as they beat the one-loss Boise State Broncos 38-7.

the Las Vegas Bowl announced a new, five-year, alternating tie-in between the SEC and Big Ten beginning 2020. An SEC team will play the Las Vegas Bowl in even-numbered years, while a Big Ten team will play in odd-numbered years.

As for Cal, the Golden Bears had their best season under third-year head coach Justin Wilcox and ended the season with eight wins. Auburn has had an excellent track record against the Pac-12 in recent years (and a 10-3 record against the conference overall). The Tigers are scheduled to play a home-and-home against Cal in 2023 and 2024 but I’d welcome an earlier matchup.

Saturday Down South – Peach Bowl vs. Boise State

This is what I’m talking about. Let’s get Auburn back to a New Year’s Six Bowl. It hasn’t been that long since the Tigers made the Peach Bowl either since they made the game in 2018 (2017 season).

Like this proposed matchup, Auburn would be facing off against a Group of Five opponent that has dominated their respective conference in recent years. Auburn fell to an undefeated UCF last time so here’s hoping they wouldn’t face the same outcome this time.

Boise State has achieved double-digit wins in each of the last four seasons and were 12-1 last season before getting embarrassed by Washington in their bowl game.

Still, Boise State is always one of the best non-Power-Five schools in college football and the Broncos are nearly guaranteed to hover around the 10-12 win mark and appear in the top 25 next season.