CFP analyst predicts hot start, bowl bid for Auburn football in 2026
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Auburn football fans have high hopes for their team this season as the Alex Golesh era gets underway. One of those hopes is to see its team qualify for a bowl game for the first time in three seasons.
Will that dream become a reality? One analyst believes Auburn fans will have plenty to smile about once the season concludes.
On3's JD PicKell recently examined Auburn's 2026 slate and predicted the team's win-loss record. He predicts Auburn will finish the season with a 7-5 record and will earn its first bowl bid since the 2023 season, when it faced Maryland in the Music City Bowl.
PicKell believes the Alex Golesh era will get off to a hot start with Auburn winning its first four games over Baylor, Southern Miss, Florida, and Vanderbilt, before dropping its first game on the road at Tennessee in Golesh's first game back in Knoxville since leading the Volunteers' offense during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. PicKell also expects the Tigers to lose their next game, a road contest at Georgia.
The Tigers will bounce back in Week 8 against LSU, says PicKell, which would be a signature win for Golesh in his first season in front of the home crowd at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Auburn is then predicted to lose two of its next three games, which features road games against Ole Miss and Mississippi State, and a home date with Arkansas. To close the season, PicKell predicts Auburn to beat Samford and lose to Alabama on the road, bringing Auburn's record to 7-5.
PicKell's predictions draw little controversy, as he forecasts Auburn to win games against teams seen as equal or inferior, and to lose games against College Football Playoff contenders. Three notable games that could go either way are in Week 3 against Florida, Week 8 against LSU, and Week 11 at Mississippi State.
PicKell predicts Golesh's Tigers to get the best of fellow first-year head coaches Jon Summral (Florida) and Lane Kiffin (LSU). However, Auburn will need to be on the lookout for an upset in Starkville. Mississippi State is hoping its identity under Jeff Lebby is established by Week 11 and that the Bulldogs can take down an Auburn team, predicted to be 6-3 entering the game, in front of the cowbells at Davis Wade Stadium.
If PicKell's predictions become true, it will mean a strong start for the Tigers and a bowl bid in Golesh's first season as head coach. More importantly, it means Auburn erases a streak of losing seven games in four straight seasons.
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This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: CFP analyst predicts hot start, bowl bid for Auburn football in 2026
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