Auburn Tigers Predicted to Make Bowl Game Against This Former Alex Golesh Team

Despite the difficult schedule that remains this season, the Auburn Tigers are lined up to make a bowl game this season for the first time this decade.

Sep 26, 2026; Auburn, Alabama, USA; Fans tailgate before a game between the Auburn Tigers and the Vanderbilt Commodores at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Auburn Tigers may have a difficult path to bowl eligibility, especially after their latest loss to Tennessee, but two ESPN analysts still believe that the Tigers will find bowl eligibility this season, with one even speculating that the Tigers will face off against a very familiar opponent.

On Monday, ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach released their official bowl predictions following the events of Week 5, and the Tigers found a bowl game prediction from both.

According to Schlabach, the Tigers will match up with North Carolina in the Birmingham Bowl, while Bonagura predicts the Tigers to match up with none other than the University of South Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl.

Needless to say, a matchup with South Florida would be big-time news for the Tigers, who are now operating under former USF head coach Alex Golesh. If the Tigers were to match up with the Bulls at the end of the season, it would be the second former program Golesh will have played against this season, joining Tennessee.

The Bulls look quite a bit different this season, especially on offense, as a large part of their production, including quarterback Byrum Brown, running back Nykahi Davenport and a host of receivers and other talent, all transferred to Auburn with Golesh, and new USF head coach Brian Hartline has been forced to rebuild in the meantime.

However, for the Tigers to make a bowl game, they’ll need six wins, a task that wouldn’t normally be particularly difficult for a team that already has three wins through Week 5, but the Tigers’ remaining schedule may make bowl eligibility a challenge in 2026.

Of the remaining games on the Tigers’ schedule, Golesh’s squad is only favored against Arkansas and Florida, while lining up as underdogs to Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Alabama. To be bowl-eligible, the Tigers will need to take both the Arkansas and Samford games, while also snagging an upset win against one of the aforementioned teams.

The task is not an easy one for Golesh and company, but if they are able to sneak out a win against one of the many difficult teams they have scheduled, beating Arkansas and Samford should not be much of a problem. 

Plus, it wouldn’t hurt to quiet some of the early Golesh nerves with the Tigers’ first bowl game since 2023.

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