Mailbag 216: Which SEC game is a must-flip for Auburn?

This week: Conference scheduling, the LB rotation, critical games, freshmen to watch and attending sporting events by yourself

(Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers)

AUBURN — Welcome back to the mailbag. We’re back in our traditional Friday slot in honor of football season being just around the corner.

While heat indexes are still pushing toward triple-digits — and that won’t go away any time soon — Auburn will begin preseason practices next week. I hesitate to call it “fall camp” because, well, it’s still the summer. It’s going to feel like summer by the time actual games kick off. Do we call it training camp like the NFL?

I’m looking forward to covering practices over the next few weeks, because I truly believe this is the most fascinating season of Auburn football in a while. This team has the talent to take the step forward and, maybe, surprise some folks in college football. But there are just enough questions, enough of a tough schedule and enough lingering issues facing Hugh Freeze and his staff that it’s far from a slam dunk.

In this week’s mailbag, we’ll kick off with some questions about Auburn’s 2025 football season and the revamped roster. I also got a few of you to answer my final offseason question: What was your favorite thing that you did this summer?

My answer was my first anniversary trip to the mountains of North Georgia, where we ate a ton of incredible food, saw incredible scenery and maximized our relaxation at what had been a busy time of the year for us. I mean, just look at the view from our rental house for that weekend:

Hope y’all had a great summer. It’s about to be that time. Let’s go.

Since the SEC schedule is the same as last season, which game that was a loss last year appears the easiest to flip into a win?

James

Let’s not overcomplicate this. It’s Vanderbilt.

I can see why people might have a hard time answering this question, since Arkansas and Vanderbilt were both home losses last season and will be on the road this season. I can also see why, because of that, people will pick Missouri instead.

But I don’t think home vs. away designation really matters too much for Auburn, outside of the truly big games. If that was the case, well, it wouldn’t have lost to Cal, Arkansas and Vanderbilt at home last season right after beating them all on the road.

(I would also point out that Auburn has had no problem winning at Arkansas for the better part of the past decade, regardless of its own quality.)

The opponent matters more than the location. And while Vanderbilt had a great season by its standards last year, it’s still Vanderbilt. This is a program that doesn’t recruit anywhere near the level of the rest of the conference. This is also a program that usually has as many away fans at its stadium than its own for SEC games.

Vanderbilt is sitting behind Kentucky, which I think might be the worst team in the SEC this year, in preseason SP+. Also, Auburn held Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt to just 221 yards of offense in that loss last season. If the Tigers weren’t so massively bad at finishing drives, they would have won that game with ease. By November, we’ll know whether Auburn has taken the step forward it needs to take on offense.

I would also say that timing matters more than location. Auburn will play Vanderbilt fresh off a home game against that aforementioned Kentucky team. Vanderbilt will be coming back home after a road trip to potential national title contender Texas. These two programs could and should be in very different spots for this rematch.

Also, come on. It’s Vanderbilt. While the Commodores have won three out of the last five in this series, they had lost 13 straight before that. Auburn hasn’t lost to Vanderbilt in back-to-back years since the early 1950s. Vanderbilt wins over Auburn usually have a lot more to do with what Auburn did wrong than who Vanderbilt is.

That’s not to say Vanderbilt is incapable of beating Auburn. It beat a better Alabama team last season in a much different type of game. But if Auburn learns from its mistakes and plays a relatively clean contest, it should flip that result against Vanderbilt in Nashville.

If it doesn’t… yeah, that could be immediate danger zone for a certain head coach.

What’s your personal opinion about whether the SEC should play eight or nine conference games? And what transfer out of Auburn are you most intrigued by this football season?

Ryan