The Auburn Tigers return in 2019 from a disappointing 8-5 season last year.
Speculation surrounding Gus Malzahn quietened after the Tigers destroyed Purdue 63-14 in the Music City Bowl. Malzahn returned to calling plays — something he’ll do in 2019, and that certainly benefits the offense. AU will decide between freshmen Joey Gatewood or Bo Nix for the starting quarterback job leading into the season opener against Oregon.
Auburn once again returns a very good defense, led by a fierce line. This unit wreaks havoc, and if the offense and defense can play to expectation, we’ll be talking about Auburn in contention for the College Football Playoff.
The Tigers have one of the nation’s 10 toughest schedules, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index metric. The FPI gives Auburn the best chance to finish 8-4 and it gives the Tigers a .1 percent chance of going undefeated and a 2.1 percent chance of winning the conference.
Auburn’s toughest game? The FPI lists the Iron Bowl against Alabama, but it is followed closely with the road game at LSU.
Below is Auburn’s full schedule and projected win probability, per the FPI:
- August 31: vs Oregon (neutral site): 53.4 percent win probability
- September 7: Tulane: 95.2 percent
- September 14: Kent State: 98.4 percent
- September 21: at Texas A&M: 42.7 percent
- September 28: Mississippi State: 66.9 percent
- October 5: at Florida: 39.4 percent
- October 19: at Arkansas: 85.5 percent
- October 26: at LSU: 28.2 percent
- November 2: Ole Miss: 81.6 percent
- November 16: Georgia: 45.3 percent
- November 23: Samford: 98.8 percent
- November 30: Alabama: 26.4 percent
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
