Auburn football: Tigers projected to face NC State in 2021 Duke’s Mayo Bowl

It is far too early to realistically slot teams into bowl games, but Athlon Sports took a stab at projecting all 43 bowl games in the upcoming 2021 college football season. In what shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, Auburn football wasn’t projected to make the College Football Playoff or even a New Year’s 6 bowl game.

Instead, the Tigers are expected to land in a bowl at the level of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. NC State would be their opponent if Athlon’s Steven Lassan has soothsaying abilities.

The Wolfpack finished with an 8-3 record in 2020, knocking off all of their ACC foes in conference play besides Virginia Tech, UNC, and Miami. All three opponents were ranked at the time of their matchups. NC State even knocked off trendy FBS Independent Liberty at home during the ninth game of their season, but their season came to an unsatisfying conclusion when they were edged out by Kentucky, a team sporting a losing record in the SEC.

Let’s hope that result isn’t repeated in 2021. While a bowl win would be nice for the Tigers–who have won a singular bowl game in the last half-decade–seeing them end up in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl would be a step down from their New Year’s Day primetime slot against Northwestern in the 2021 Citrus Bowl. 

The combined record of last year’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl matchup was 8-8. If Auburn football ends up in such a contest, one would have to assume losses to LSU, Penn State, and/or Ole Miss will all be present on their resume. In fact, losses to all of them might still have the Tigers qualifying for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Let’s hope that AU avoids being this low on the totem pole come bowl season and can make a push for at least the NY6 slate.