Auburn football: Last minute bowl projections after SEC Championship

It’s officially time for Bowl Season, though Auburn football fans likely will not be watching the Tigers play in a big-time game this year. After spending the first half of the regular season marching towards a rematch with the Bulldogs for the SEC title, the Tigers fell flat and ended with a 6-6 record.

We all hate to hear it, but Auburn football’s 2021 bowl game is likely to be the Ticketsmarter Birmingham Bowl. Played on Tuesday, December 28 at 11:00 a.m. central time, the game will kickoff in Birmingham’s brand new venue, Protective Stadium. The teams haven’t been announced yet, but it will be an SEC team versus an American Athletic Conference team.

Both Brett McMurphy and Athlon Sports have predicted Auburn football to go to the Birmingham Bowl, with potential opponents being SMU or Houston. SMU finished 4-4 in conference play and went 8-4 overall this season, while Houston finished 8-0 in conference play and 11-2 overall.

The other bowl game Auburn football could potentially play is the Autozone Liberty Bowl, which takes place on Tuesday, December 28 as well, but at 5:45 p.m. central time. The game will be played from Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, and is slotted to be a Big 12 team versus an SEC team.

The Tigers are likely to take on Kansas State or Texas Tech, should they play the Liberty Bowl. K-State finished up their season 4-5 in conference play and 7-5 overall while Texas Tech won only three of their six conference games and finished 6-6 overall.

At this point, it seems all but finalized that Auburn will play in the Birmingham Bowl, and their most commonly projected opponent is the SMU Mustangs. 6-6 is not an ideal way to end the season, and it will be extremely important for Bryan Harsin to coach his first team to a bowl victory later this month.