Auburn’s 2026 schedule gives Alex Golesh no soft landing in his first season on the Plains. The Tigers won’t be in the preseason AP Top 25, but they’ll spend plenty of time trying to knock ranked teams off theirs.
Five opponents on Auburn’s slate open the year with a number next to their name, and the run through October looks especially punishing. Then comes the regular-season finale against No. 14 Alabama in the Iron Bowl.
The list of ranked opponents Auburn will face in 2026 includes No. 20 Tennessee on Oct.
3, No. 3 Georgia on Oct.
17, No. 11 LSU on Oct.
24, No. 9 Ole Miss on Oct. 31 and No.
14 Alabama on Nov. 28.
That stretch begins in Knoxville, where Golesh will go up against Tennessee for the first time as Auburn’s head coach. It also means a reunion with his former colleague and former team, making the matchup at Neyland Stadium one with plenty of emotion attached. If Auburn can pull the upset there, it could ignite real momentum for the Tigers.
A bye week follows the Tennessee game, and then comes Georgia. The Bulldogs remain one of the most intimidating programs in the sport, with most of their defense back, an experienced quarterback and Kirby Smart still running the show. They enter the season as one of the national title favorites.
LSU brings another tricky wrinkle. Auburn will host Lane Kiffin in his first season in Baton Rouge, and the Tigers could catch the Bayou Bengals at a vulnerable point.
LSU is set to play eight straight games to open the season, with the eighth coming at Jordan-Hare Stadium before the bye week. If Byrum Brown and the offense are clicking, Auburn has a shot to spring the upset.
Then there’s Ole Miss, a team viewed as both playoff-caliber and unpredictable depending on how Pete Golding handles the roster. Golding stepped in for Lane Kiffin midseason and through the College Football Playoffs after Kiffin’s departure to LSU. The Rebels also may have the best quarterback in the conference, and possibly the country, in Trinidad Chambliss.
In Other News...
Auburn Suddenly Has A Serious Eligibility Problem With Two New Additions
Auburns roster plans are now getting tangled in a broader NCAA fight over eligibility, with recent additions Tray Taylor and Keyshawn Hall both among the student-athletes affected by the governing bodys new fifth-year rule. Their cases sit inside a fast-moving legal battle over whether players from the 2022 class can keep playing if they still have eligibility left, and the uncertainty is not limited to Auburn, even if it has a direct impact on how the Tigers view the next step with both players.
The latest wrinkle came when the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the NCAA a stay against a prior injunction in the Wisne v. NCAA case, a decision that tightens the screws on players seeking an extra year. Taylor and Hall are seeking temporary restraining orders against the NCAA, while the association continues to fight court rulings that would extend college careers, setting up more lawsuits and more requests for relief in the weeks ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Alex Golesh Is Making Auburn's Newcomers Feel The Program Early
Auburns newest arrivals got a taste of more than football this week as Alex Golesh continued introducing the programs traditions to the transfer class. The Tigers held a meeting with 40 incoming transfers, and it turned into one of those campus moments that helps a team start feeling like a team before the first snap is ever taken.
The associate director of bands and director of choir joined the session to teach the fight song, and the day included speeches along with performances from the band and choir. Players sang along as Golesh worked to build the kind of culture he wants in place ahead of the upcoming season, blending football with the pageantry and pride that come with being at Auburn. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn May Have Found A Linebacker Piece That Changes Everything
Auburns linebacker room already had the look of a group with real depth, and Bryce Deas is giving the staff another reason to believe it can hold up over a long season. Entering his sophomore year, Deas has been working at all three linebacker spots in camp, a sign the Tigers are trying to see how much versatility he can bring to a unit that also includes Xavier Atkins, Demarcus Riddick and Elijah Melendez.
Head coach Alex Golesh said Deas has performed strongly in camp, and the bigger picture is easy to see: Auburn appears willing to lean on its younger linebackers if they keep showing up. With Melendez and Riddick also in line for significant snaps, Deas emergence could give the Tigers more options than they had expected when camp opened, and perhaps the kind of flexibility that changes how the whole defense is built. [Read more 🡒]