Auburn football: 3 reasons to be over the moon for opening kickoff

The 2021 Auburn football begins in three days.

After over a year of unprecedented uncertainty, the Tigers reopen the doors of Jordan-Hare Stadium once more for a capacity crowd that will exceed the population of the city of Auburn on any given non-gameday.

The Plains is whole again. On Toomer’s Corner is a swath of students and downtown enjoyers and inside Toomer’s Drugs is a line of lemonade seekers. Lines of people are once again waiting down the block and around the corner from Skybar and Tigertown is bustling with the visible smiles of shoppers.

In three days, the final piece of the puzzle will be connected in order to make this Auburn autumn true.

Here are 3 reasons to be over the moon for the opening kickoff against Akron:

Reason #1 to be over the moon for Auburn football opening kickoff: Guaranteed win

The MAC is no joke. Buffalo finished the season as a ranked team in the AP Top 25 College Football Poll, and Ball State received votes this year after knocking off the Bulls in the 2020 MAC Championship game.

Elsewhere in the conference, Toledo has registered ten-win seasons in the past five years and Western Michigan won 13 games in 2016 and played in a New Year’s Six bowl game the following January.

That said, Akron has won five games in the last three seasons. Bryan Harsin’s first game as head coach will be against a sacrificial lamb to the slaughter, given the Zips’ underdog status reaching the upper-30’s on the point spread.