Well, this was a little surprising, to say the least. After Auburn football took a tough beatdown by the Georgia Bulldogs in Jordan-Hare Stadium last weekend and dropped completely out of the AP Poll rankings, things were not looking great.
Of course, only Auburn would lose to the #2 team in the country only for that team to become #1 and the #18 Tigers to drop eight whole spots out of the rankings. However, Fifth Quarter predicts that the same Auburn football that is currently unranked will come out on top of the SEC West by the end of November.
Regardless of what the AP Poll voters think of the Tigers, it’s a plain fact that their only two losses this season are to Top 10 teams. Penn State was #10 when the Tigers fell in Happy Valley, and #2 Georgia had done nothing but dominate up until the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, after which they earned their #1 spot.
Auburn football has six remaining games on their 2021 schedule, and Fifth Quarter believes that they’re all winnable. With Alabama showing early signs of weakness, if the Tigers can take care of the rest of their SEC opponents, FQ believes the Iron Bowl is a done deal:
"Auburn has had a bit of a roller coaster ride thus far. It has shown signs of being a good football team, but has also had some pretty frustrating moments. Still, that is something Auburn has seen before.In 2017, Auburn was sacked 11 times in a loss to Clemson and blew a lead against an LSU team that lost to Troy. After that, Auburn ran the table and made its way to the SEC Championship game.This is an eye-popping prediction, but there’s something about this Auburn team. As long as Auburn can take care of business against Ole Miss and Arkansas, it will likely set up a winner-take-all Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare Stadium."
As of right now, the Tigers still have to beat three ranked SEC opponents before even making it to the Iron Bowl to face Alabama, which is no easy task in itself. This week’s opponent, Arkansas, is undefeated in their home stadium this season and after hosting #13 Ole Miss Bryan Harsin’s squad will have to make the trek to Texas A&M’s Kyle Field.
They have a formidable task ahead of them, but with a little Auburn football magic, we could see our Tigers heading to Atlanta for the SEC Championship in December.