AP Poll has Mixed Results Concerning Auburn Tigers

The Auburn Tigers have wildly outperformed their preseason ranking on more than one occasion.

Payton Thorne and the Auburn Tigers should be considerably better in 2024, though the AP Poll believes otherwise. / Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports

The Associated Press preseason football Top 25 came out on Monday, and for the fourth consecutive season, Auburn will begin the season unranked. Each of the last three teams has also finished the season unranked. Hugh Freeze’s second team received two votes, which is the 41st most votes.

The last time Auburn was in the AP Top 25 was in November 2021 when consecutive losses to Texas A&M and Mississippi State knocked Auburn from 12th to 16th to unranked.

Since Pat Dye was named Auburn head football coach prior to the 1981 season, Auburn has gone an entire season without being ranked only six times – 1981, 1992, 1999, 2012, 2022, and 2023. All of those seasons were either the last year of a head coach’s tenure or the first.

The preseason AP Poll hasn’t exactly been a great indicator for predicting Auburn’s success, as some of its best teams started the season unranked or not highly ranked.

In 1982, Dye’s second team started outside the then Top 20 to finish 9-3 an a final ranking of No. 14.

Terry Bowden’s first team at Auburn in 1993 was ineligible for postseason play, but went 11-0 with a No. 4 ranking to end the season despite starting off unranked.

Tommy Tuberville’s first several teams seemed to do the opposite of the rankings. His second team in 2000 started unranked, won the SEC West, and finished No. 18 in the AP Poll at 9-4. Similarly in 2002, the Tigers started unranked, and went 9-4 with a No. 14 national finish. Tuberville’s best season was the 2004 squad that began at 17 in the first release of the AP Top 25. That team finished 13-0, and No. 2 per the final AP rankings.

Gene Chizik’s second team at Auburn in 2010 began the season ranked 22nd, and behind Cam Newton and Nick Fairley claimed the AP No. 1 spot at the end of the year beating Oregon in the BCS National Championship.

Gus Malzahn inherited a team that went winless in SEC play in 2012 only to win the SEC title and play for a national championship in 2013. That team began the season unranked. Malzahn’s only other team to be unranked to start the season unranked was the 2016 team that went to the Sugar Bowl and finished No. 24.

The writers who cast ballots for the AP Poll have guessed wrong on Auburn in the other direction a number of times as well. In 1985 (2nd), 1991 (17th), 1998 (25th), 2003 (6th), 2008 (10th), 2011 (23rd), 2015 (6th), and 2018 (9th) Auburn began the season ranked only to be left out of the poll by season’s end.

The following teams (since 1981) began the season unranked and finished unranked – 1981, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2009, 2012, 2021, 2022, 2023.

The following teams (since 1981) began the season unranked and finished ranked – 1982 (NR to 14th), 1993 (NR to 4th), 2000 (NR to 18th), 2002 (NR to 14th), 2013 (NR to 2nd), 2016 (NR to 24).

The following teams (since 1981) began the season ranked and finished unranked – 1985 (2nd to NR), 1991 (17th to NR), 1998 (25th to NR), 2003 (6th to NR), 2008 (10th to NR), 2011 (23rd to NR), 2015 (6th to NR), 2018 (9th to NR), 2020 (11th to NR).

The following teams (since 1981) began the season ranked and finished ranked – 1983 (5th to 3rd), 1984 (1st to 14th), 1986 (14th to 6th), 1987 (5th to 7th), 1988 (7th to 8th), 1989 (8th to 6th), 1990 (3rd to 19th), 1994 (11th to 9th), 1995 (6th to 22nd), 1996 (17th to 24th), 1997 (16th to 11th), 2004 (17th to 2nd), 2005 (16th to 14th), 2006 (4th to 9th), 2007 (18th to 15th), 2010 (22nd to 1st), 2014 (6th to 22nd), 2017 (12th to 10th), 2019 (16th to 14th).

The 2024 team will have plenty of opportunity to jump into the Top 25 by the end of September as they’ll in all likelihood be favored in the first four contests, possibly five. Alabama A&M, California, New Mexico, Arkansas, and Oklahoma visit Jordan-Hare Stadium in consecutive weeks to begin the 2024 season. Of those opponents, the Sooners at #16 are the only one with a preseason Top 25 start to the season.

Other Auburn opponents in the Top 25 are #1 Georgia, #5 Alabama, #11 Missouri, #20 Texas A&M. Auburn visits Georgia on Oct. 5 and Missouri on Oct. 19. The Texas A&M Aggies visit Auburn on Nov. 23. The Iron Bowl is in Tuscaloosa this year on Nov. 30.

The 16-team SEC was well represented in the poll, which also includes #4 Texas, #6 Ole Miss, #13 LSU, #15 Tennessee. Kentucky also received three votes.

In total, Auburn will face five opponents who made the preseason Top 25. Nine teams from the SEC are in, while Kentucky and Auburn also drew votes.