Spooky season is upon Alex Golesh and Auburn. Halloween is 1/4th of the reason why, though. And it's got nothing to do with spirits or trickery on the 31st, and everything to do with Pete Golding's football team.
The entire month of October is a scary thought for these Tigers. The meatiest part of the 2026 schedule is here.
It's not all bad. There will be a bye week.
Other than that, though, matchups against four ranked teams await.
Tennessee, UGA, LSU, and Ole Miss are coming...welcome to hell, Auburn
First up is Tennessee. The Vols are coming off a close loss to Texas and have their CFP hopes hanging in the balance. A second loss at home would have head coach Josh Heupel in trouble up on Rocky Top. It's a must-win for Tennessee on Saturday, likely more so than Auburn.
There's a slight reprieve in Knoxville after left guard Wendell Moe Jr.'s season-ending lower-body injury suffered in the 20-17 loss to the Longhorns last week. The pass protection of quarterback Faizon Brandon will undoubtedly be worse. The Volunteers are still a touchdown favorite or more on most sportsbooks, though.
Week 6 is the aforementioned bye week. The good news is that the Tigers can't lose that weekend.
Week 7 may be a guaranteed loss. Georgia hosts its Deep South's Oldest Rivalry counterpart Between the Hedges. The Dawgs have no chinks in their armor based on their first four games.
Week 8 is LSU at Jordan-Hare Stadium at 11 am CT. Lane Kiffin's Bayou Bengals have looked unstoppable outside of the first half against Ole Miss. The talent gap between the Tigers and the Tigers should be evident.
Speaking of the Rebels, Ole Miss has shown the ability to put up points. Trinidad Chambliss is on a Heisman tear, and despite the Rebels' 52-28 loss to Florida, Chambliss still completed 25-of-34 pass attempts and was two passing yards shy of 300. Thus far, Joel Gordon's offense looks like it lacks the running game to keep up with Ole Miss on Halloween night.
This could be a trying month for the fanbase. Golesh has been all business after a former staffer was arrested for stealing info and distributing it to other SEC schools, but that doesn't guarantee results this Saturday or the rest of the month.
Auburn has a unique October challenge on its schedule
As CBS Sports' Brad Crawford noted, while ranking AU's as the toughest schedule in the country this month, the Tigers are the only team to face four ranked opponents.
Crawford predicted a national spotlight for Auburn if the Tigers can knock off three or four of their foes over the next few weeks.
"By no means are we calling Alex Golesh's squad a CFP threat after splitting their first two SEC games. However, what the Tigers are about to endure over the next four weeks and change will undoubtedly put them in the national spotlight if they're able to post at least three wins in four matchups against nationally ranked teams," Crawford wrote.
"No other program nationally faces off with four top-25 opponents in October. This is why Golesh left South Florida and returned to the SEC, right?"
Golesh did come to the Plains to win national championships.
If Auburn were ever in a position to do so, it'd have to beat three or four opponents of this caliber in the CFP.
It's game time for Golesh and Co.
Bring on the buzzsaws.
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