Auburn football is on a quest to end its streak of losing seasons at five in 2026 and is off to a hot start as the Tigers downed Baylor in the Aflac Kickoff Game in Atlanta, Georgia, in Week 1, 17-16.
Entering Week 2 of the college football season, Auburn needs just five more wins to qualify for a bowl game, which would be a great accomplishment for Alex Golesh in year one as the Tigers' head coach. The good news is that multiple outlets, including ESPN, project the Tigers to reach that mark before the end of the regular season. ESPN's Football Power Index projects Auburn to reach the six-win mark in November against Samford, and several publications project that Auburn will reach bowl season for the first time since 2023.
The trend is expected
to continue this week as Auburn hosts Southern Miss for the 2026 home opener inside Jordan-Hare Stadium. ESPN's FPI gives the Tigers an 88% chance to beat the Golden Eagles on Saturday, and BetMGM lists the Tigers as 32 1/2-point favorites heading into the game. A win over Southern Miss would build much-needed confidence heading into next week's SEC opener against the Florida Gators, another team hungry for success with a first-year head coach.
Here is a look at Auburn football's latest bowl projections ahead of Week 2's action across college football.
USA TODAY Sports
USA TODAY Sports' predictions remain the same from Week 1, with Auburn projected to meet Kansas State in the Texas Bowl on New Year's Eve in Houston. Both the Tigers and Wildcats earned season-opening victories last weekend.
ESPN
ESPN's Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach's Week 2 projections are similar to their Week 1 forecast. However, the duo has swapped destination picks.
Last week, Bonagura forecasted Auburn to play in the JLab Birmingham Bowl against Duke. This week, it's Schlabach who places Auburn in the game scheduled for Dec. 29 at Protective Stadium. Schlabach forecasts North Carolina as Auburn's opponent. The Tar Heels, led by Bill Belichek, defeated TCU in Dublin, Ireland, in Week 0.
Bonagura assumes Schlabach's Week 1 prediction of putting Auburn in the Texas Bowl on New Year's Eve opposite Cincinnati. Last week, Schlabach projected Auburn would meet TCU in Reliant Stadium, home of the Houston Texans.
The Athletic
At the time of this post, The Athletic has not updated its bowl projections. Last week, The Athletic projected Auburn to return to the site of its last bowl appearance, Nashville, to face off with former Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema at the Illinois Fighting Illini on Dec. 30 at Nissan Stadium. Illinois has won two straight bowl games against SEC competition, most recently defeating Tennessee in the 2025 Music City Bowl.
CBS Sports
This should be a good one. CBS Sports' latest bowl projection pits Auburn against a team most of its roster and coaching staff are familiar with: the USF Bulls. To make this matchup even juicier, Brad Crawford of CBS Sports forecasts the Tigers and Bulls to meet up in the Gasparilla Bowl, played Dec. 18 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, where the Bulls play their home games.
USF fans who remain salty that Alex Golesh, Byrum Brown, and the rest of last season's roster now call the Plains home would live nothing more than to watch their team crush the Tigers. On the other hand, those players who left USF for Auburn would love to show their former fanbase that the grass is much greener on the other side.
On3
Brett McMurphy of On3 is sticking with his projection that Auburn will return to the Birmingham Bowl this postseason. However, he is swapping one Big Ten opponent for another.
McMurphy has traded Wisconsin for Maryland as Auburn's Birmingham Bowl opponent. The Terrapins topped Auburn in the 2023 Music City Bowl, which was the Tigers' last bowl appearance.
Athlon Sports
Athlon Sports remains adamant that Auburn will face Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl on Jan. 2 in Memphis, Tennessee, similar to USA TODAY's projection that pits the Tigers against the Wildcats in the Texas Bowl. If this projection becomes true, it would mark Auburn football's first Liberty Bowl appearance since 1984, and just its third total in program history.
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This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: Bowl projections for the Auburn Tigers ahead of Week 2
