Auburn football has decent odds of winning the 2025/2026 national championship and has confidence that a top-25 finish is not just possible, but probable. Vibes are immaculate on the Plains despite two straight losing seasons under Hugh Freeze because the man has at least done well with the talent acquisition portion of his job.
AL.com's Peter Rauterkus projects at least eight wins and broken records in what would be a dream season for the Tigers.
In particular, Rauterkus sees the single-season receiving yards record going down with either Cam Coleman or Eric Singleton Jr. breaking it.
"This upcoming season seems like the perfect time to break (a 1,000-yard drought for a single player), as the Tigers have multiple talented wide receivers who seem capable of reaching 1,000 yards," Rauterkus wrote.
"The two most likely candidates are rising sophomore Cam Coleman and Georgia Tech transfer Eric Singleton Jr. Coleman caught 37 passes for 598 yards during his freshman season, and 306 of those yards came in the final three games.
"If he can stay close to that pace during the 2025 campaign, he should have no problem getting to 1,000 yards and potentially breaking Daniels' single-season record.
"Singleton caught 48 passes for 714 yards in 2024 and 56 passes for 754 yards in 2023 at Georgia Tech. He too will have plenty of opportunities to reach 1,000 yards in 2025, in an offense that can utilize him in a variety of ways."
Accompanying a 1,000-yard receiving season could be a 3,000-yard passing season. Rauterkus also predicts Jackson Arnold achieving that in his first year in East Central Alabama.
"At Auburn he’ll have better weapons -- provided everyone stays healthy -- and a more stable offensive staff than what (Arnold) dealt with in Norman," Rauterkus wrote.
"That doesn’t mean the numbers will automatically come, but it’s a much more ideal situation for a player with enough talent to be rated as a five-star recruit coming out of high school."
Rauterkus piece was aptly labeled "5 way-too-early bold predictions" because these would be shocking developments to say the least. Freeze had an explosive offense in 2024 but had many negative plays.
If AU can break records like this, and the defense can hold up under DJ Durkin, Tiger fans have the right to be as bold about their day-dreams of the 2025 season as possible.