As the defending SEC West champ, Auburn’s 2018 season started with a No. 9 ranking and plenty of promise. After Week 7, that’s no longer the case.

The Tigers fell to 4-3 on the season after losing at home to unranked Tennessee 30-24. The team’s big-picture goals of winning a division title and conference championship are officially out of reach. Former Auburn coach Gene Chizik, an analyst with the SEC Network, warns that bowl eligibility (six wins) may now be in doubt.

Auburn has five games remaining. Chizik says AU may not win another SEC game if coach Gus Malzahn and his staff don’t show proper leadership in the coming week.

“The coaches, starting with Gus, they are going to have to provide the leadership,” Chizik said on the SEC Network postgame show, per Auburn Undercover. “They have got to go to Ole Miss next week. If they don’t (lead) and things continue to go south, they may not win another SEC game the rest of the year. The coaches have to get this thing, corral it back together. It’s a huge undertaking right now because it doesn’t look synchronized anywhere on the team.”

Four of Auburn’s five remaining games are against SEC foes. Ole Miss certainly appears to be the most winnable game as the other three are against No. 22 Texas A&M, No. 2 Georgia and No. 1 Alabama. The Tigers also play Liberty on Nov. 17.

A win over the Rebels is far from guaranteed. Ole Miss is now 5-2 after a come-from-behind win at Arkansas on Saturday.