According to the 2025 SEC power rankings, Auburn football is ranked higher than Alabama, Ole Miss, and Tennessee.

Auburn football is being projected as the biggest riser in the SEC. They’re not expected to surpass Texas or Georgia, and aren’t expected to make a rise to the top like LSU or Texas A&M. Still, the Knoxville News Sentinel’s John Adams projects the Tigers to be No. 5 in the conference, better than Ole Miss, Alabama, and Tennessee, in that order.

“The Tigers could be the most improved team in the league – in part, because they underachieved in 2024. Adding former Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold and former Georgia Tech wide receiver Eric Singleton from the transfer portal should do wonders for the Tigers offense,” Adams wrote.

Nick Saban said the same thing before AU’s ill-fated 2024 season back in August too.

“I think Auburn is going to be the most-improved team in the league,” Saban admitted during his College GameDay debut, per AL.com. “I really do.”

Auburn has recruited like a team that’s due for a jump in the standings but they haven’t been coached like one. Since 2019 at earliest.

Hugh Freeze’s arrival didn’t lead to the program’s resurrection like many would’ve hoped. An insistence to start Payton Thorne and not finding an upgrade in the transfer portal last year made for a highly disappointing campaign this past fall.

2023 was forgivable with all the moving parts and transfer portal losses. 2024 was not forgivable.