The Auburn Tigers finished the 2025 season with a 5-7 record. Unless you have a strong academic rating, you normally do not receive a bowl invitation with that mark. The Tigers were presented with an opportunity to partake in a bowl game, though, on Sunday afternoon. They turned it down.
New head coach Alex Golesh was asked about Auburn’s decision during his Monday press conference. He attributed the Tigers’ choice to not play partly due to his presence on campus, mentioning that he has no ties or experience with coaching this year’s squad.
“If it had happened a week ago, and our guys were all here, and the staff that was previously here was still here … I think that would have been realistic,” Golesh said. “There’s so much staff turnover that it would be hard to truly be able put it all together and be competitive … would you love to go compete and win a game? Absolutely. But the timing of it all? Just not realistic.”
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None of Auburn’s current players committed to the Tigers to play for Golesh, who has brought a good chunk of his South Florida staff to the Plains. He’s right that the lack of familiarity between his coaches and these players, even with multiple weeks of prep time, would make it incredibly difficult to field a competitive bunch.
As a result of this decision, the next time the Tigers will play a game that counts for something is 2026.
