ESPN’s FPI has revealed what it believes will go down in Nashville on Saturday afternoon as reeling Auburn visits suddenly desperate Vanderbilt in a Week 11 matchup.
Let’s start with the visitors from the Plains, who are coming off a disastrous home loss to Kentucky in Week 10 that ultimately was the last straw for Hugh Freeze. Auburn fired Freeze as head coach last Sunday, 1 day after the 10-3 primetime loss dropped the Tigers to 4-5 overall and just 1-5 in the SEC. It was a horrible night at Jordan-Hare Stadium, and now 7 days later the Tigers will try to somehow bounce back against Vandy under the leadership of interim head coach DJ Durkin.
This wouldn’t be easy against any opponent, let alone a ranked Vanderbilt team that is stewing after last week’s agonizing loss at Texas. The Commodores are 16th in the first College Football Playoff rankings that were released on Tuesday night, and they believe there is still Playoff hope with a 7-2 record. Vandy can start by taking care of Auburn at home in Week 11, and that ESPN FPI indicator believes it has a great chance to do just that in the 4 p.m. ET kickoff on SEC Network.
The FPI is giving Clark Lea‘s team a 71% chance to bounce back and get to 8-2 on Saturday.
A little over a year ago, Vandy went to the Plains and gutted out a 17-7 victory over Auburn. On Saturday at home, the Commodores will try to do the same thing but with a lot more at stake this time around.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
