How Auburn’s Bowl Projections Changed After Southern Miss Win

Here's where the Tigers fall after a strong win in Week 2 over a Sun Belt opponent.

Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles linebacker Wesley Edison (35) closes in to tackle Auburn Tigers running back Bryson Washington (30) during the third quarter at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Auburn Tigers are 2-0 after two weeks of their first season under new head coach Alex Golesh, and, with four more wins, could be bowl-eligible for the first time since 2023. The Tigers have a clear path to those wins, and after putting the hurt on Southern Miss this past weekend, ESPN’s bowl projections have been updated for the Tigers.

Last time we checked in on these bowl projections, the Tigers were predicted to end up in either the Kindler’s Texas Bowl against Cincinnati or the Birmingham Bowl against North Carolina. After the win against Southern Miss, though, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach seems to have had a change of heart. 

Yes, ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura still believes that the Tigers will end up in the Texas Bowl against Cincinnati, but Schlabach has now updated his prediction to include the Tigers in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl against TCU. 

This would be a step up from the Birmingham Bowl for the Tigers, though they’ll still need to put together a strong season to earn the right to play in this game. The Tigers still need four wins to make bowl eligibility against one of the toughest schedules in football, but if Alex Golesh manages his team right, the Tigers shouldn’t have too much trouble finding six wins this season.

Despite a difficult schedule that includes away matchups at Ole Miss, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, the Tigers have a few games that they are already projected to win (according to ESPN’s FPI), including Samford (99.6%), Arkansas (77.5%), Mississippi State (67.5%) and Vanderbilt (65.2%).

If the Tigers can simply pick up those four games, everything else will be a bonus, at least as it relates to bowl eligibility. More importantly, though, with those four wins and a bowl win, the Tigers will have turned in a winning season for the first time this decade.

Though six wins is not exactly a marquee season for Alex Golesh in his first year, it sets the tone and the ‘foundation,’ as Golesh put it, for many seasons of top-level football as Golesh’s era as the head coach of the Tigers continues. 

In the meantime, though, the Tigers will need to take their schedule one game at a time, as this week, they have a matchup with Florida, which has already been predicted to be one of the tightest matchups of the Tigers’ season.

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