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Kirk Herbstreit makes pick for ‘most-improved’ SEC team in 2024
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Kirk Herbstreit on Saturday revealed which SEC team he thought would make the most improvement.
“I think Auburn is a team everybody is forgetting about,” he said on College GameDay. “Hugh Freeze calling plays, Payton Thorne, it’s almost if people just dismiss him. He’s got receivers to throw to now. Auburn can be a thorn in the side in that conference.”
“I think Auburn is going to be the most improved team in the league. I really do,” Nick Saban added.
The Tigers, in Freeze’s first season in 2023, finished 6-7 (3-5 SEC). Freeze parted ways with offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery after the season ended and hired Derrick Nix — a longtime Ole Miss staffer dating back to Freeze’s days in Oxford — but Freeze will have offensive playcalling duties.
KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Penn State’s leading receiver in 2023, joined Auburn as an offseason transfer and will be one of Thorne’s primary targets, along with fellow portal addition Robert Lewis (Georgia State). Highly-regarded true freshman Cam Coleman, a Top 5 recruit, will have an opportunity to prove himself immediately.
Auburn opens the season at home against Alabama A&M on Aug. 31.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
