Auburn Football Cracks Top 25 in B/R Early Rankings

The Auburn Tigers are expected to be considerably better in Hugh Freeze's third year in charge on the Plains.

His last name may be Freeze, but Auburn's head coach has a warm seat entering his third season on the Plains. / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Auburn Tigers were an enigma in 2024.

Auburn finished 5-7 against a watered down SEC that included slight dips from powerhouse programs like the Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide and a bigger collapse from the likes of the Oklahoma Sooners.

It was easy to look at the schedule game by game and think Auburn should have won considerably more games including home losses to Cal, Arkansas, and Oklahoma to start the season. However, as the season wore on, the poor play from the quarterback position, league-worst place kicking, and untimely collapses from the defense made it feel like 5-7 was just about right for head coach Hugh Freeze's second season.

Expectations are certainly higher on the Plains in Freeze's third season, and at least one national outlet is buying in on Auburn's turnaround in 2025.

Bleacher Report (B/R) inserted the Tigers at No. 25 in their Super Early Top 25.

The schedule looks somewhat favorable with No. 23 Oklahoma, No. 24 Texas A&M, No. 3 Georgia, and No. 8 Alabama being the only-ranked teams on Auburn's 12-game slate.

Auburn misses No. 1 Texas, No. 9 South Carolina, No. 10 LSU, No. 12 Tennessee, No. 13 Florida, and No. 20 Ole Miss on this year's rotation.

The Tigers overhauled their quarterback room after the season. Payton Thorne mercifully ran out of eligibility, and backups Walker White, Hank Brown and Holden Geriner left via the Portal.

Auburn made a big investment in former Oklahoma Sooners trigger man Jackson Arnold, and backed him with youth and experience including Ashton Daniels from Stanford and Deuce Knight from the high school ranks.

"Freeze and the Tigers have been active in the portal themselves," wrote Antonio Morales on The Athletic. "Their headliner addition is Jackson Arnold, who was a five-star prospect in the 2023 cycle but struggled at Oklahoma and was temporarily benched this fall.

"He seems to be the favorite to start, but the Tigers also added Ashton Daniels, who started at Stanford but definitely wasn’t the most prolific passer. Neither is a sure bet to hit, but Auburn does have solid talent at receiver, which should help whoever starts at quarterback."

Few teams around the country can boast as much depth and talent at the receiver position as Auburn. Sophomore Cam Coleman returns to lead the unit along with classmates Malcolm Simmons and Perry Thompson.

Auburn also signed Eric Singleton from Georgia Tech who was considered the No. 1 wide receiver in the portal by 247 Sports.

Freeze also addressed a leaky offensive line with upgrades at offensive tackle in the form of Xavier Chaplin from Virginia Tech and Mason Murphy from USC. 247 Sports considered them the No. 3 and No. 8 offensive tackles in the portal.

The Tigers were a flawed team in 2024 that still underachieved relative to their talent. Some questionable coaching decisions and schemes, including a three-headed monster calling offensive plays, held Auburn back during crunch time.

Freeze has made enormous progress in upgrading the roster, and B/R for one, thinks it will pay dividends in 2025.