Auburn and Mississippi State's clash in Starkville on November 14 will air at 11 am CT on either ESPN or ESPN 2, which was the only time slot anyone could've expected out of two teams in the SEC's bottom tier.
The Tigers and Bulldogs are both coming off embarrassing losses to Ole Miss and Texas, respectively. Auburn and Mississippi State both have opponents this coming weekend in Arkansas and Vanderbilt, respectively, that wouldn't raise their respective stocks much anyway.
AU has lost two straight blowouts to the Rebels and LSU. State, meanwhile, has lost four straight games after a 4-0 start. Starting quarterback Kamario Taylor's season-ending injury has ended any hope for the Bulldogs this fall.
This was once a matchup that could've had late-season intrigue. Certainly, for these two fan bases, it does.
On a national scale, though, this doesn't come close to the intrigue of Texas-LSU, Missouri-Georgia, Florida-Kentucky, or even Ole Miss-Oklahoma.
11 am CT it is, then.
Auburn can be nationally relevant by the Iron Bowl
The CFP is out of the question for Auburn this year. Still, a 7-4 Tigers team marching into Tuscaloosa for the chance to win eight games for the first time since 2019 would be one that the entire country tunes in to.
All it would take is running the table against the Razorbacks, Mississippi State, and Samford over the next three weekends. Two of those matchups are at home. This is extremely doable for Alex Golesh's program.
The prospect of upsetting Alabama in the Iron Bowl is high this year if the Crimson Tide are eliminated from the CFP by then. There's a good chance LSU eliminates Alabama this coming weekend in Death Valley. Lane Kiffin has had this game circled on his schedule since he took the job in Baton Rouge.
A Crimson Tide team with three losses before the Iron Bowl is one that will be teetering on the brink of implosion. Kalen DeBoer is already a great disappointment to the Bama fanbase. The negative momentum that'd be brought into the Iron Bowl, with a chance that a loss could seal his fate, despite his ludicrous contract extension this past offseason, would have Auburn in the catbird seat to win for the first time against Alabama since 2019.
AU may be down now, but check back in late November.
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