One of the biggest games of the year for two of the three teams of Tigers in the SEC (LSU is excluded here) is apparently the Missouri-Auburn football game set to take place September 24th at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams, the hosts of “SEC Football Unfiltered,” a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, called the inter-SEC divisional matchup between projected bottom-feeders in the SEC East and SEC West.
Both teams are expected to fall short of bowl eligibility during the 2022 season, with common win-totals hovering around four to five for both teams. That makes this game a winnable one for both sets of Tigers.
The hosts made sure to post this disclaimer so that everyone laid off complaining about the Iron Bowl, World’s Largest Outdoor (Cocktail) Party, and Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry games (to name a few) not being listed:
"“We know rivalry games are big. Games like the Iron Bowl and Egg Bowl are huge every year. While we take that into account here, we’re also focused on swing games, turning-point games and games that will be critical in shaping the narrative for each team’s season.”"
The defining game of the 2022 Auburn football season could be the week before Mizzou
Truthfully, the Penn State game is more of a bellwether for how the upcoming season may shake out. Paul Finebaum holds the belief that the Tigers cannot afford an early season loss in the first six games with a trip to Athens to face the defending champions on October 8th — and in the process essentially overlooked Mizzou.
Let the Nittany Lions run loose in Jordan-Hare Stadium September 17th, and Missouri coming to town would become must-win, but the hype on gameday will have nothing on Penn State’s return trip after their narrow victory in Happy Valley in September 2021.