Auburn football: ACC also-ran tabbed second straight Birmingham Bowl foe

Auburn football is a third of the way there to bowl eligibility, having picked up two wins during their opening week matchups vs. Mercer and San Jose State. Neither were pretty for Tigers spread-bettors, and no one should come away from the SJSU game feeling as though this team is ready to walk into Sanford or Bryant-Denny set to blow the doors off the Dawgs or the team up north.

Still, if anything, AU’s opponents don’t exactly look like world-beaters themselves. While Mizzou looked the part against LA Tech and LSU certainly did the same against Southern, Jordan-Hare Stadium feels likely to overwhelm one, if not both, of those underwhelming offenses in the next few weeks. Western Kentucky isn’t likely to be ready to rock the boat against a Power Five team like they would have if Bailey Zappe was still under center and Texas A&M just got downed by App State at home.

That isn’t even to get into the chances of marching into either Mississippi school’s stadiums and doing what Auburn football tends to do against teams from that state —  Cowbell Bulldogs fans, we know how things went last November, but the Tigers are 4-2 in the last six. Arkansas looks like a world-beater but you could throw them in that boat too. Oh, and don’t overlook the orange-out this Saturday.

With all that said, a bowl appearance is far from impossible for Auburn, even if a New Year’s Six bowl isn’t terribly likely. College Football News released their bowl game predictions, and ACC also-ran Virginia Tech was named as AU’s opponent for the Tigers’ second straight Birmingham Bowl.

Virginia Tech was where Cam Newton almost went before becoming an Auburn football legend

One of the wilder stories that has come out in the wake of Cam Newton’s evolution into a fashion mogul from ‘Scam Newton’ days from his legendary Auburn football run was that ‘Superman’ almost chose Virginia Tech for a far out reason…

Fashion.

Newton detailed how the Hokies’ maroon and orange combination almost kept him away from the Plains:

"“I considered a school just because of the uniform — Virginia Tech…that maroon orange collab.”"

VT was no also-ran in 2010 and had a double-digit win-total from 2004-2011. It’s possible he could have won it all for Frank Beamer, but his legend just means more *wink* having done it for Auburn.