Anyone reading this right now should immediately go to their nearest online/in-person sportsbook and punch in a wager for Auburn football in the Iron Bowl this season due to their 18.5-point underdog status.
Oddsmakers must be holding the fact that the Tigers have a head coach lacking Power 5 experience against them. Bryan Harsin has had success at the Mountain West level, but the SEC is essentially the big leagues in college football.
Then again, football is football, no matter what part of the country it is being played. Harsin’s level of excellence at Boise State never produced a winning percentage under 69% (ay).
That should translate to the Plains, where he is already ingraining himself into the culture with his interactions with other Auburn coaches and his participation in the rolling of the trees for the women’s golf SEC Championship.
Some may circle Penn State as the first critical game of the season, but every Auburn football fan has the Iron Bowl circled on their calendar. Beating Alabama is an annual goal, but it historically has been infinitely more attainable at Jordan-Hare Stadium, the site of this year’s inter-state showdown.
The last two contests at JHS ended in victories for the Tigers, but that’s not how oddsmakers see this year’s game going down.
In fact, the odds see the Tigers struggling to keep up with the Alabama machine, which never seems to skip a beat no matter who they lose.
Heisman winner Devonta Smith and big-play complement Jaylen Waddle were first-round NFL Draft picks, but fear not Tide fans (they weren’t anyway), reinforcements are on the way in the form of 5-star wideout Jacorey Brooks, and 4-star WRs Agiye Hall, Christian Leary, and JoJo Earle. Mac Jones is no longer under center, but Bryce Young may be able to produce more fireworks from both his arm and his legs.
Yes, the taking down the Tide seems like a tall task, but opening up as -18.5 underdogs is disrespectful to both Harsin and the Auburn football program, who hasn’t tasted defeat in the Iron Bowl at home since Barack Obama was president.