National Media Believes Auburn Has A High Chance To Improve on 2025 Season

If there is one word to describe the 2025 season of the Auburn Tigers, it is almost certainly ‘disappointing.’

The Tigers seemed to have everything going for them: top-level commits, the ‘Freeze Four’ entering their second year, a new transfer quarterback in Jackson Arnold and a DJ Durkin defense to be feared.

But, of course, the Tigers fell flat on their faces when it mattered. When one examines Auburn’s 2026 roster, an objective audience may find it hard to say that the Tigers will be better this season. After all, the Tigers lost the aforementioned ‘Freeze Four,’ many top-level defensive pieces, including first-round pick Keldric Faulk and have brought in an offense mostly made up of USF transfers.

However, ESPN is quite high on the Tigers’ chances to improve from an abysmal 5-7 season, and has even granted the Tigers a 73.9% chance to improve on their 2025 season. This certainly says something about the belief in Alex Golesh, who seems to have been inspiring confidence in the Tigers since the day he stepped onto campus for the first time.

A large part of this ranking could be due to what is expected to be a top-level rushing attack consisting of Auburn returner Jeremiah Cobb, Baylor transfer Bryson Washington, dual-threat quarterback Byrum Brown and a host of younger, highly-talented backs waiting in the wings.

Perhaps the fact that the team is, in fact, so different is contributing to this ranking, as Hugh Freeze’s approach did not seem to work in the slightest, as the Tigers consistently stayed in games, even against top-level opponents, but could never provide the offensive help their defense needed.

A major benefit of bringing over nearly an entire offense from USF is the knowledge of Golesh’s scheme, which turns the tables, interestingly, to Auburn returners having to learn a system from the new guys, not the other way around. However, this familiarity should result in less time needing to be spent on installation, which leaves plenty of time to practice execution.

For what it is worth, ESPN also granted the Tigers a chance to have a 2026 season with 11 wins or more, though that percentage sits at a miniscule 0.2%, the lowest of any team that was not given a flat-out zero. The Tigers are, needless to say, extremely unlikely to win 11 games or more this season, though it is an interesting vote of confidence from ESPN to even say that there is a chance at all.

The bar is on the floor for Alex Golesh, who could easily consider the 2026 season as a win with six to seven wins, as the Tigers have not had a winning (or even .500) season since 2020.

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