Auburn football has not made an appearance in the College Football Playoff since its inception in 2014. However, there have been times when they have derailed the dreams of another program.
The 2017 season is a prime example. The Tigers knocked off No. 1 Georgia, 40-17 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Auburn defeated its second No. 1 team of the season just two weeks later when the Tigers upset Alabama in the Iron Bowl.
Can Auburn play a similar role in 2023? CBS Sports Tom Fornelli seems to think so.
Fornelli shared his picks for College Football’s five potential chaos teams and has included Auburn. The Tigers are on the upswing after hiring Hugh Freeze, which has in turn become beneficial on the recruiting trail and overall morale of the program. Auburn’s schedule is also a doozy, as the Tigers play Alabama, Georgia, LSU, and Texas A&M. Auburn’s schedule is difficult, which means that Auburn has a great chance to trip up a College Football Playoff hopeful.
Auburn is a chaos team in perpetuity for both on- and off-field reasons. My expectation for the Tigers in 2023 is that things will be smoother on the field. Hugh Freeze is in charge now instead of Bryan Harsin, so the likelihood of a coup attempt decreases to 20%, which is very low on The Plains. It’ll drop even lower if the Tigers can pull off one or two of the upsets presented to them this season.
Other teams that Fornelli sees as “chaos teams” are Baylor, Colorado, Florida, and Michigan State.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1364]
Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__