2026 Auburn Football Preview
Jake Wimberly
Abby Boyd Contributing-
What’s to like:
Auburn’s biggest wins came from the transfer portal. The Tigers landed one of the most accomplished quarterbacks available in Byrum Brown. He is an experienced playmaker and has a dual-threat ability that adds another dimension to the offense and can get defenses guessing.
He wasn’t the only transfer has many of his former teammates from South Florida followed their coach here. These players already understand the expectations, terminology, and schemes being implemented, which should help ease the transition process, as there are already built in foundation.
What’s not to like:
Year one under a head coach always comes with uncertainty. Building a culture, installing new systems, and getting an entire roster on the same page is not a process that happens overnight. Getting your former players from the school you just left is a good start but there will still be doubt.
There are questions about whether the Tigers have enough talent and depth on the defense to consistently slow down the high powered offenses they’ll face. Defensive struggles have a way of putting pressure on every other phase of the team. Until the defense demonstrates it can hold its own there will be reason for caution.
What does the Hourglass say?
Auburn- SEC (8-4)
Power ranking 112.92. The 16th toughest schedule in the SEC.
2026 Auburn Analytics
National recruiting rating (three year metric): #19- outside the boundary of a National Championship Roster.
National Coaching Ranking:
Alex Golseh- 19th in Power 5 and 8th in the SEC.
2026 coaching value= 27.5 (average 2026 Power 5 coaching value=21.93) Alex Golesh is ranked high of the pack for coaches in the Power 5.
Quarterback Play: Byrum Brown- ranked 12th in the Power 4, 4th in the SEC; 2026 QB value= 43.6 (Power 4 average- 26.43).
Impact Ball Catcher Metric: Auburn has an Impact Ball Catcher Metric of 4. This puts the Tigers at the upper tier for the SEC in this metric.
Final Thoughts:
Head Coach Alex Golesh continues to build Auburn’s roster with players that know his system, and the Tigers appear to have more talent than they had in recent seasons. There is still work to do, but Auburn has the pieces to be much more competitive in the SEC. If the offense becomes more consistent and the defense continues to play at a high level, the Tigers have the potential to make a significant jump in 2026.
2026 Schedule analysis:
Projected Hourglass W/L record: Games in red denote games that could be a one possession game or even a different outcome than projection.
9/5/26 Baylor- Win
9/12/26 Southern Miss- Win
9/19/26 Florida- Win
9/26/26 Vanderbilt- Win
10/3/26 At Tennessee- Win
10/17/26 At Georgia- Loss
10/24/26 LSU- Loss
10/31/26 Ole Miss- Loss
11/7/26 Arkansas- Win
11/14/26 At Mississippi State- Win
11/21/26 Samford- Win
11/28/26 At Alabama- Loss
