National Media Predicts Auburn to Have First Winning Season Since 2020

It has been an incredibly rough decade for fans of the Auburn Tigers, who have not seen their chosen football program record a winning season since the pandemic, when Gus Malzahn was still at the helm. However, CBS Sports predicts that to change in 2026, as on Friday, Brad Crawford predicted the Tigers to go 7-5 this season, with a 4-5 SEC record.

“This would qualify as meaningful progress on The Plains for a program that's spent the last several years searching for stability,” Crawford said. “The Tigers aren't devoid of talent, but expectations should be tempered given the roster turnover, coaching transition and the weekly grind of the SEC. A seven-win campaign would likely mean Auburn held serve against the teams it should beat and won a game or two against a couple of more established opponents.”

In his projection, Crawford predicted the Tigers to win key games against Baylor, Southern Miss, Florida, Vanderbilt, at Tennessee, Arkansas and Samford, while losing at Georgia, against LSU, at Ole Miss, at Mississippi State and at Alabama.

This would certainly be a massive improvement for the Tigers, who lost some ugly games last year, including to Missouri, Arkansas and Kentucky, the latter of which was so bad that it got Hugh Freeze fired. Roster turnover has been a big topic of discussion, but Golesh’s A- grade for the 2026 season certainly bodes well for the talent level of this new roster.

Crawford believes that there is something much more important that could come out of a winning season, though.

“More importantly, it would provide tangible evidence that Alex Golesh's culture and offensive philosophy are taking hold,” he said. “Auburn fans want signs that the program is moving in the right direction, not necessarily championship contention overnight. A bowl appearance and competitive losses to elite opponents would make 2026 a successful year for building the foundation.”

There is a common misconception that Auburn fans are of the “playoff or bust” mentality as it relates to their team, but after a stretch of so many bad seasons, it seems as if those on the Plains are just desperate to see their team perform at any semblance of a high level, especially on offense.

Golesh has brought in a top-notch class of transfers that have replaced nearly the entire 2025 offense, who will join a Tigers defense that should be strong enough to keep them within striking distance, even against top teams. They were able to last year, but Freeze’s offense was never able to strike when it mattered. Evidently, CBS believes that Golesh’s offense will.

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