Auburn Aims to Play Spoiler to Texas A&M in Fight for Bowl Eligibility

The Auburn Tigers have a tall mountain to climb to bowl eligibility but that only makes the stakes even more interesting

Auburn can keep their bowl hopes alive by playing spoiler / John Reed-Imagn Images

The Auburn Tigers are sitting at 4-6 (1-5 SEC), and its chances of qualifying for a bowl game depend on beating two top-15 opponents. 

The Tigers host the No. 15 Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday and travel to Tuscaloosa the following week for the Iron Bowl. That would require taking down a top-10 Alabama team in a venue they haven’t won in since 2010. 

Even with things looking bleak, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze praised his team’s devotion to a strong finish.

“Our kids have kept fighting,” Freeze said. “They’ve kept coming to practice and working with our staff. We’ve continued trying to make changes that give these young kids more and more confidence. I think you saw our young receivers played with a little more confidence on Saturday. Hopefully, that success will bleed over into a great week of practice and prep for an outstanding A&M team.”

Auburn’s senior night matchup against No. 15 Texas A&M will make for a tough home finale for the season. 

However, Freeze knows his team is in for a fight. and go into the Iron Bowl on a two-game winning streak. He thinks the opportunity to pull off an upset in front of the home crowd should fire them up a bit. 

“Obviously, the roster you’re facing here is different than last week, they’re one of the best in the country and competing to be in the playoffs this year,” Freeze said. “That should excite us. It should excite us to get them at home in front of our crowd at night in Jordan-Hare. Hopefully, the confidence we might have built from the success from last week will carry over.”

This will be Freeze and the Tigers’ first time seeing Mike Elko as the head coach of the Aggies. Despite the change in leadership, Texas A&M has been playing at a high level. They’re 8-2 on the season in second place in the SEC standings, only behind rival Texas. 

Auburn has the chance to spoil the Aggies’ remaining hopes of reaching the SEC Championship Game for the first time - along with their outside chances of finally reaching the College Football Playoff.  

Perhaps they can take the experience from last year’s 27-10 loss against Texas A&M and flip the script this year. 

“I think the rosters are very similar from last year to this year,” Freeze said. “They were dynamic on defense last year also. Offensively, I think they’re more multiple and do a few more things. There’s no question they’re playing with a championship mentality and effort.”

Kick off is set for 6:30 p.m. CT and SEC Network will carry the television broadcast.