Alex Golesh isn’t walking into a soft landing at Auburn. ESPN’s latest Football Power Index schedule rankings make that plain, slotting the Tigers at No. 13 on the list of the nation’s toughest slates for 2026.
That number starts to make sense once you trace the path Auburn has to navigate. The season opens with Baylor, and while the Bears aren’t being described as a powerhouse, they also aren’t the kind of September opponent a first-year head coach usually wants staring back at him in Week 1. Baylor is led by Florida transfer DJ Lagway, who struggled last year but appears to be making strides with the Bears.
After that comes Southern Mississippi, which serves as the lighter breath before the real punishment begins in SEC play. And once Auburn gets there, the schedule turns into a brutal stretch of ranked opponents that could define the season before November even arrives.
Golesh’s conference opener is against Florida, a matchup with an extra layer to it because new Gator head coach Jon Sumrall was a popular pick for Auburn before ending up in Gainesville. ESPN’s FPI has Florida at No. 18 nationally, four spots ahead of Auburn.
Vanderbilt comes next, though the Commodores have slipped out of the FPI rankings after losing some key pieces from their 2025 team. Even so, they’ve found a major quarterback answer in five-star true freshman Jared Curtis, a player with obvious talent who may need time to settle in.
Then comes the stretch that really turns the screw. Auburn travels to Knoxville to face No.
16 Tennessee, then gets a bye week before heading to Athens for a meeting with No. 5 Georgia.
After that, the Tigers return home to play No. 9 LSU and close out that gauntlet with a trip to Oxford to face Pete Golding’s No.
14 Rebels.
That run carries Auburn through October, and the grind still isn’t done. The Tigers will host Arkansas, travel to Starkville to play Mississippi State, then finish with Samford and the Iron Bowl.
Put it all together, and Auburn’s ranking is no mystery. This is a demanding schedule from top to bottom, and it leaves Golesh with a major challenge in his first season. If Auburn can start climbing that mountain, though, the payoff could be significant down the road.
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Auburn Commit Perfectly Captured How Different Alex Golesh Already Feels
Auburns coaching reset under Alex Golesh is already starting to feel different in the way recruits talk about it. After a rough final season under Hugh Freeze, the Tigers have turned the page quickly, with Golesh bringing over several players from South Florida and helping put together a top-10 overall 2027 recruiting class that has given the program an immediate jolt of momentum.
Myson Johnson-Cook, one of Auburns 2027 commits, captured the mood around the new staff with a light touch that said plenty about the change in tone. Golesh and offensive coordinator Joel Gordon are selling a new identity built around running the football with tempo, and for a fan base that spent a lot of time hearing about what went wrong before, the early reaction from the recruiting trail suggests the message is landing. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Just Got The Preseason SEC Respect Fans Wanted
Auburn got an early dose of preseason respect from Athlon Sports, and it starts with a pair of defenders who should be central to whatever the Tigers build next. Linebacker Xavier Atkins and safety/kick returner Rayshawn Pleasant landed on Athlons Preseason All-SEC First Team, a nod that reflects how much production and impact they brought last season as Auburn looks ahead under head coach Alex Golesh.
The recognition did not stop there. Jeremiah Cobb earned third-team honors and offensive lineman Cody Sigler was placed on the fourth team, giving Auburn a small but meaningful cluster of players across the leagues preseason list. For a program trying to establish momentum before the first snap, that kind of attention matters, even if the bigger question is how quickly those names can turn offseason praise into results once the games start. [Read more 🡒]