Auburn is Primed to Rejoin the CFB Elites

While it has been over a decade since Auburn has reached the heights their program is capable of, they are no stranger to greatness and have themselves in an exciting position as we enter 2024. To quote Herb Brooks from the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” US Olympic hockey team, “Great moments are born with great opportunity.” That is where the Auburn Tigers sit at this moment. They are sitting on a great opportunity to jump back into the national spotlight and compete for conference championships and playoff bids.

Auburn has traditionally been one of those programs where they can “pop” any year and be a threat. Even on their down years, they’re always capable of giving Alabama a run for their money in the Iron Bowl. Auburn feels as though they have the right man at the helm in Hugh Freeze and are putting faith in him to resurrect this program to be an elite contender in the college football ecosystem. I have always considered Auburn to be one of the most challenging P5 jobs in the country, largely due to being immediately flanked by Georgia to the East and Alabama to the West combined with the expectations that come with the position. Over the past decade, those two programs have been at the top of the sport, with those two schools alone combined being represented in every single CFP except 2019, in which fellow divisional rival LSU took home the crown.

Geography and the location of Auburn, Alabama will be about the only thing that will not change with this program. It is a part of one of the biggest challenges Hugh Freeze (and any Auburn coach) will face. However, if done right, location can be used as a weapon instead of perceived as a challenge. Among location, there are several other challenges on deck for the Auburn program such as having two new coordinators for the 4th straight season, which is insane in it’s own right, rebuilding a broken culture from the Harsin era and an unsolidified starter at QB as they head into Spring Camp, which has been a weak spot for the Tigers in recent years.

All of that said, they have a tremendous opportunity in front of them. Let’s dive in to some key areas where Auburn can win immediately, especially with Hugh Freeze steering the ship.

First and foremost, Coach Nick Saban has exited the building. No longer will Auburn have to compete with a Nick Saban lead Alabama on and off the field. Simply the removal of their biggest rivals head coach immediately puts them in a better position to win. This is the best news Auburn has had in quite some time. While Kalen DeBoer will still have the opportunity to keep the Tide rolling, Auburn also has the opportunity to grab some market share of the state back with Saban gone.

This leads me to the next facet where Auburn can succeed. Recruiting. This is the biggest opportunity that Auburn can address to help bring them back to national recognition. High Freeze has a great reputation for recruiting and has already shown great success bringing in a top 10 class for the upcoming 2024 season and a late flip of Cam Coleman (from Alabama) who will most likely be a day one starter for the Tigers at WR. The state of Alabama is not part of the top tier of states when it comes to producing talent, however it does sit at the top of tier 2 and their location allows for close proximity to Georgia, Florida and Louisiana, all of whom produce talent at a high level. If Hugh Freeze and Auburn can steal some market share from Georgia, Bama, LSU and the Florida schools, they will immediately place themselves at the head table. Obviously the biggest opportunity lies within their own state of Alabama. Hugh Freeze now has leverage on Alabama with Nick Saban out of the program. He can now speak to kids in Alabama and pitch them that Auburn can be the premiere program in the state.

Additionally, as far as schedules in the new SEC goes, their 2024 schedule is advantageous. Obviously they do draw Georgia and Alabama still as their protected rivals. Those will always be tough games for Auburn. However, they do have a very favorable start to the season which can greatly benefit a “new” team like Auburn. Their first five games will all be at Jordan Hare with four of the first five against Alabama A&M, Cal, New Mexico and Arkansas. Now given what we saw last year against New Mexico, we can’t pencil that in as a “W” but they will for sure be favored in the first four games. The remainder of the games feature Oklahoma, Mizzou, Kentucky, Texas A&M, ULM and Vandy. While challenging, it does not feature a murderers row like the Florida Gators have in front of them this year.

2024 will be the most important year for Auburn’s program moving forward. Having a strong start in recruiting and on field results will be paramount to their success in the upcoming years. Having a foundation to build off of will put them in a strong place and Hugh Freeze should be the guy to bring them there.