Auburn’s 2025 season gave the Tigers a little of everything college football can dish out, but the final verdict from CBS Sports was hard to ignore: Auburn was the unluckiest team in the sport.
That label came after CBS Sports reviewed every result from the 2025 season and pointed to a team that kept getting stuck on the wrong side of the margin. Auburn dropped multiple games even while winning the turnover battle, and the Tigers finished 0-6 in those contests. Their only two-score conference loss was a 20-10 defeat at Georgia, which CBS Sports noted was still a close game.
“Based on the numbers we’re looking at, there’s an argument to be made that Auburn was the unluckiest team,” he said. “It had a positive turnover margin in these games, but not to the ridiculous extent Kansas State did.
The Tigers went 0-6 in these games, with their lone two-score conference loss being a 20-10 defeat at Georgia. So even that loss was close.”
CBS Sports detailed.
But luck only explains so much. The bigger story around Auburn is that the program’s problems ran deeper than bad breaks. The offense never found its footing, and the coaching staff didn’t get enough out of the roster’s best talent.
Deuce Knight provided the clearest glimpse of what Auburn could look like when things clicked. In his only start, he scored 62 points, which stood as the Tigers’ best offensive showing of the season by a wide margin.
Even so, Auburn benched him for the Iron Bowl, a decision that raised eyebrows because there was nothing left on the line. It was a chance to show fans a piece of the future, and the Tigers passed on it.
That kind of move fits a broader pattern that has followed Auburn since parting ways with Gus Malzahn in 2020. The issue was never simply the decision to move on. It was the lack of a clear, organized plan for what came next.
Now Auburn is on its fourth head coach in six years, and the program still looks like it’s searching for a steady hand. The 2025 misfortune may have been real, but it doesn’t erase the larger leadership problem hanging over the Tigers.
There’s also the booster dynamic, which has long made life more complicated than it needs to be. Until that changes, and until Auburn builds more around its own identity than around comparisons to its rivals, the results are unlikely to look much different.
The real question now is whether Auburn has finally found the right man to move the program forward.
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The more interesting part is why Lashlee is content to wait. According to The Athletics Chris Vannini, he sees enough at SMU right now to pass on a jump, including the kind of support and path that can keep a coach from chasing the next available seat. For Auburn, it is another reminder that the search for the right fit is as much about timing and perception as it is about pedigree, and Lashlees latest choice only sharpens the question of what would have to change before he ever seriously entertains a return to the SEC stage. [Read more 🡒]
This New Auburn Piece Could Change How Dangerous This Team Looks
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What makes Dowd interesting is how he fits into that bigger picture. Auburn has stocked up on new faces across the roster, and the mix now includes size, experience and a group of players who should give the staff more options than it had a year ago. Dowds presence only adds to the sense that this team could be more dangerous than it first appears, especially if the new pieces settle in quickly and the chemistry comes together the way Auburn is hoping. [Read more 🡒]