Auburn is back in the early preseason conversation, and ESPN’s latest Football Power Index has the Tigers sitting at No. 22 in its top 25.
That number is enough to get attention, especially around a program whose fans have spent plenty of offseasons waiting for optimism to turn into something real. This time, though, the buzz comes with Alex Golesh in charge, and the sense around the program is that he’s trying to make sure Auburn doesn’t go through another letdown.
It’s important to remember what ESPN’s FPI is actually measuring. The network describes it as “a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team's performance going forward for the rest of the season.
FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule.”
In other words, this is not just a straight list of the “best” teams. It’s ESPN’s attempt to gauge how a team stacks up against an average opponent, which makes Auburn’s placement more interesting given how rough the 2025 season was.
The Tigers’ rise likely reflects a mix of what happened last year and what’s changed since then. Auburn had a string of close losses in 2025, with the defense usually holding up while the offense struggled to keep pace. Add in the new-look offense Golesh brought with him this offseason, and ESPN appears to be projecting a much stronger team than the one Auburn fielded under Hugh Freeze.
Auburn isn’t the only program getting that kind of preseason bump. Florida shows up at No. 18 in the FPI after a difficult 2025 season of its own, one marked by shaky quarterback play and a weak offense. Under Jon Sumrall, the Gators have also climbed in ESPN’s view.
Still, Auburn’s path won’t be easy. The Tigers’ strength of schedule includes six teams ranked ahead of them in the FPI, and four of those games come in back-to-back stretches. The SEC remains a brutal grind, and that schedule will tell a lot about whether this early optimism holds up.
For now, though, ESPN’s numbers suggest Auburn may be headed for a much better season than the ones Tigers fans have lived through recently.
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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 Kind Of Schedule That Can Define A New Era
Auburns 2026 football slate already looks like the kind of grind that can shape the direction of a program, and ESPNs latest schedule rankings only sharpened that view. The Tigers landed 13th on the networks list of the toughest schedules in the country, a reminder that there will be very little room for a soft landing as the next era gets underway.
For Alex Golesh, it is a first-season test with plenty of built-in pressure, because Auburns schedule is loaded with teams ESPN has among its top 25, including Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, LSU and Ole Miss. That kind of weekly climb can either accelerate a rebuild or expose how far the roster still has to go, which is why every stretch of the season will matter in a different way for Auburn than it might for most programs. [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 🡒]