The SEC announced further details on the 2026 season on Wednesday night, confirming kickoff windows for most conference games.
ESPN’s SEC Now crew went over the new 2026 schedules after the announcement and shared 1 takeaway for each team. Paul Finebaum chose to highlight one game that’s of particular importance for the Tigers as they begin the Alex Golesh era.
“Beat Baylor. That was a game that Hugh Freeze won last year, it didn’t do him any good,” Finebaum said. “But don’t try losing that game with Florida coming to town in two weeks and then going to see Tennessee and Georgia back-to-back on the road.”
Indeed, Freeze led Auburn to a big road win over Baylor early on in 2025, but couldn’t capitalize on that momentum once SEC play began.
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For Golesh and Co., beating Baylor will be crucial given the tough start to SEC play that Finebaum highlighted. Auburn will face Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, LSU and Ole Miss in its first 6 conference games this fall — with 3 of those games coming on the road.
Auburn’s regular season win total has been set at 6.5, per the latest college football odds. The Tigers last won 7+ games in 2019 under Gus Malzahn.
Auburn will take on Baylor in Atlanta on Sept. 5. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
