The Auburn football team has had a season full of struggles, but they’re just on the verge of being bowl eligible. All they need to do is beat Alabama this weekend in Bryant-Denny Stadium! While the Tide is certainly beatable, it’s going to be a tall task for Coach Caddy’s team.
If Auburn football was able to pull off a massive victory, they would finish their season at 6-6 and officially be eligible for a post-season bowl game, which would be an incredible win for a team that has struggled to win games all season long.
However, there is another path to a bowl game even if the Tigers do come out of Tuscaloosa with a loss. 82 teams are required to fill slots in 41 bowl games this post season, and currently only 73 teams have cleared the six-game threshold.
At the end of the regular season, if fewer than 82 teams have accumulated six wins, teams with 5-7 records will become eligible, and the tie-breaker is based on the academics of each team. There are 16 teams rolling into the final weekend of regular-season games with five wins, including the Tigers: Ball State, Buffalo, Florida Atlantic, Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech, Louisiana, Miami, Miami-Ohio, Michigan State, Missouri, Rice, Southern Mississippi, UAB, UTEP, and Vanderbilt.
According to CBS Sports’ bowl predictions by Jerry Palm, the Tigers have the second-highest graded APR (Academic Progress Report) with Rice in the lead and Missouri right behind.
While those in charge would certainly accept a bowl game invite following a victory over Nick Saban’s Alabama, it’s unclear whether or not a five-win Auburn team would play in a bowl game because of the work still left to be done in the recruiting world and also the coaching search that is currently taking place on the Plains.
The happiest ending to the season would be an Iron Bowl win, but either way, the Tigers have the possibility of getting to play in the post-season and they should be proud of the way they have ended this season with all the noise surrounding the program.