Auburn will be facing five ranked opponents in the AP Top 25 Preseason Poll during the 2026 season. Florida is not one of them, but the Gators are, like the Tigers, a $30 million-plus roster. On3's Andy Staples reported the wild NIL figures on Tuesday.
That makes the Week 3 matchup between the two sleeping SEC giants at Jordan-Hare Stadium even more blockbuster. It's not like the matchup was lacking in the storylines department already, besides the fact that Auburn and Florida were once regular football rivals.
Jon Sumrall famously chose the Gators over the Tigers during the 2025 coaching cycle, forcing Auburn to pivot and hire Alex Golesh. Sumrall now gets a close-up look at what he missed out on when he and Florida come to town. He'll also get to see his wife's alma mater at its peak.
Meanwhile, Golesh's USF Bulls beat the Gators last year at the "Swamp." Golesh could solidify that he owns Florida with a win in his first SEC matchup at AU. The Gators players who returned to the team from the 2025 roster have a clear revenge mission. Especially the defenders going up against Byrum Brown and the rest of the USF skill-position threats who followed the quarterback to the Plains.
Auburn enters the season with higher expectations now
$30 million for a college football roster is a lot. Of course, there are teams pushing $50 million rosters these days, like Texas and LSU, but it's still a dizzying thought to think that much money is going into a college football program's roster spend. That's without getting into the coaching staff and support staff.
The Tigers are now a team we know is getting paid big bucks to play this game. Fans will be angrier than ever not seeing these players perform. No one will be angrier than the former players who didn't have the chance to have sponsorships or direct salaries from the school.
It's a different day and age. The expectations for an overhauled Auburn team are high after so much losing for so many years, but knowing so much is going into this roster makes the pressure even greater.
Spending has never been Auburn's problem
Of course, it's not like this is the first time the Tigers were a multi-million-dollar operation. Hugh Freeze's teams never spared expenses. NIL spending has never been the issue in East Central Alabama.
Leadership has been the issue. If Golesh can do great things with a much cheaper Bulls roster last year, the hope is that Auburn can provide him the talent base necessary to dominate. Sure, there are champions like Ohio State and Michigan over the past few years that threw money everywhere, but Curt Cignetti's roster wasn't the most expensive and won it all this past January off the strength of great player development. Moneyball can win big in this sport with the right coaching.
Golesh isn't seeing this as a rebuilding year. While he's not setting championship expectations, he clearly hasn't shied away from any competitive advantages. His team is built to win football games.
Let's see if they do in a few short weeks. We're getting close to kickoff, and we're learning how much of an investment this roster was.
Hint: it was a big one, and even bigger than many expected.
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