Why Auburn Ranks 36th In FBS, According to The Athletic

Auburn has some work to do before going into the top 25, but The Athletic thinks its closer than many think.

Auburn enters the 2026 season unranked, looking set to play Baylor to open the year. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Auburn Tigers are working desperately to right the ship after several straight seasons of disappointment under head coaches Bryan Harsin and Hugh Freeze, and many are beginning to believe that new head coach Alex Golesh is the man for the job.

The Athletic, however, only projects the Tigers to be a few wins better than their 5-7 finish last season.

This projection comes alongside a massive rating of all 138 FBS teams shared by The Athletic’s College Football staff on Wednesday, in which the Tigers ranked No. 36 among all teams in FBS this year.

“Auburn’s offense has sputtered for several seasons,” The Athletic’s Manny Navarro wrote. “Their new head coach was once a successful SEC coordinator, and he has brought an experienced starting quarterback and a lot of other pieces with him from a pretty good G6 program. There appears to be enough returning talent on defense to get to a bowl game for the first time in three years.”

Successful may be something of an understatement, especially when describing Golesh’s time at Tennessee, as during his 2023 season as the offensive coordinator of the Vols, Golesh’s offense tied or broke 15 different program records, all while leading the country in scoring offense and total offense. 

However, Golesh’s offense will likely live and die by one man: Byrum Brown, the newest quarterback of the Auburn Tigers. Brown was the only quarterback in FBS last year to pass for over 3,000 yards and rush for over 1,000, and he ranked second in total touchdowns accounted for by a quarterback, only falling behind Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza.

“Byrum Brown (No. 19 in QB Tiers and No. 49 in the Freaks List) was one of the country’s most productive rushing quarterbacks when healthy at USF,” Navarro continued. “Coupled with a talented and experienced Tigers backfield, Auburn’s rushing attack could prove to be a real threat.”

Offense can only do so much, though, and the Tigers will need to rely on their defense in key moments throughout this season if they want to compete in a grueling SEC slate. Thankfully for them, DJ Durkin’s unit is up for the task. Last season, Durkin put together one of the best defenses in football and, as Navarro mentioned, much of that production is returning to the Plains this year, along with some top-level new players.

Golesh has been clear that this season is not about immediately taking the world by storm, as he wants to build a foundation that can sustain teams for years to come. So, though the Tigers may, indeed, be only a few wins better than last season, that improvement should set the Tigers up well for their future under Golesh.

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