Auburn Tigers football coach Hugh Freeze recruited the No. 8 transfer portal class and No. 8 high school class in the 2025 cycle. Hail Florida Hail's Alexis Farinacci believes Jackson Arnold is the only noteworthy addition Freeze made, though.
That helped Farinacci settle on the No. 10 spot in his SEC Football post-spring power rankings, the same spot CBS Sports had AU.
"Coming off a 5-7 season, the Tigers made one big move in the transfer portal, bringing in former Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold, who was looking for a fresh start. However, beyond that, Hugh Freeze and the Tigers did not do much else in the transfer portal," Farinacci wrote.
"Some rankings predict Auburn could pull off an upset this season, but that they won’t make many more waves with the strength of their schedule. They open the 2025-26 season in August against Baylor. Beginning week four, they will have back-to-back-to-back SEC games in a challenging three weeks against Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and then Georgia. That week four game will see the matchup of Jackson Arnold and Oklahoma. The question will be if he can get past his former defensive teammates or if Oklahoma will outsmart Auburn and know how to defend Arnold in Auburn’s first SEC game of the season."
It should be noted that Arnold may be the one thing that could hold back an otherwise stellar transfer haul. Georgia Tech transfer Eric Singleton Jr. and Wake Forest transfer Horatio Fields are headline receivers who can take over where KeAndre Lambert-Smith left off in his lone brilliant season saving Payton Thorne's reputation with the "Freeze Four" in its infancy.
Virginia Tech transfer OT Xavier Chaplin and Maryland transfer CB Raion Strader also come in as blue-chip Power 4 prospects with a chance to impress as upperclassmen looking for a chance to springboard to NFL consideration in the SEC.
Farinacci's assessment is harsh, but to be fair, until Freeze starts winning, Tiger fans shouldn't expect him to get credit for much.