On3’s Ari Wasserman feels that it would be foolish to sleep on the Auburn Tigers this season.
Auburn football has not experienced a winning season since the COVID-shortended 2020 season, but one analyst feels that this could be the year that the Tigers get over the mountain and will make a run to the College Football Playoffs in 2025.
Ari Wasserman of On3 recently compiled a list of SEC and Big Ten teams that could create havoc in the College Football Playoff race in 2025, and the Auburn Tigers are on it. Wasserman cites quarterback play as a giant factor in Auburn’s chances to earn a seat in the College Football Playoff for the first time ever.
Auburn was the best bad team in college football last year. Despite having dysfunctional quarterback play the entire season, the Tigers fought hard, ran the ball well and were highly competitive against good teams. Now head coach Hugh Freeze — who has a long history of drawing up some ball plays — brought in three options at quarterback. It seems like Jackson Arnold, the Oklahoma transfer, will get the call. If he has a solid, productive offseason in which he develops, high-level quarterback play combined with an amazing 1-2 receiver punch of Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton Jr. could have the Tigers back in contention.
With the talent that Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze has recruited to Auburn over the years, it feels that Auburn is close to making its first-ever College Football Playoff appearance. Quarterback play will be under a high-powered microscope this season as most analysts, such as Wasserman, feel that will make the difference in the Tigers making a playoff push, or ending the season in a bowl game. Jackson Arnold joins the Tigers’ roster after posting solid numbers at Oklahoma last season, completing 62% of his passes for 1,421 yards and 16 touchdowns while rushing for an additional 444 yards and three touchdowns.
He will get a fresh start after a sophomore season filled with inconsistent offensive line play and an injury-filled season for the Sooners’ wide receiver unit. Auburn will protect him with an experienced offensive line and a wide receiver room that is poised to be the best in the SEC this season. If Arnold becomes the quarterback that was he was projected to be as a five-star and the Gatorade Player of the Year from Texas, there is zero question that Auburn will be in the mix for a College Football Playoff bid.
According to Wasserman, the South Carolina Gamecocks, Oklahoma Sooners, and Florida Gators join Auburn as SEC squads who are also considered a “sleeper” in the College Football Playoff pursuit. Based on this list, the Sept. 20 matchup between the Tigers and Sooners in Norman could be a major player in both team’s College Football Playoff dreams.
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