Bowl projections for the Auburn Tigers ahead of Week 5
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Auburn football got back on track last Saturday by downing Vanderbilt, 21-15, in Jordan-Hare Stadium to move to 3-1 on the season and 1-1 in conference play.
Auburn needs just three wins to qualify for a bowl game in year one under head coach Alex Golesh, which would erase a two-game postseason drought. This week, Auburn will look to stun Tennessee on the road to kick off a grueling October schedule that will see the Tigers battle four top-20 teams, three of those games will be played on the road. October could be cruel to Auburn, but they remain on the right path to earn a postseason bid.
Here is a look at Auburn football's latest bowl projections ahead of Week 5's action across college football.
USA TODAY Sports
Auburn may have won last week, but USA TODAY's Erick Smith's prediction for Auburn's bowl destination remains the same. Smith predicts Auburn to face Memphis in the Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 29 at Protective Stadium for the second week in a row. Both teams are 3-1 entering Week 5 and will play key conference games on the road this weekend: Auburn at Tennessee and Memphis at Charlotte.
ESPN
The duo of Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach have shaken up their bowl forecasts for the Auburn Tigers for ESPN. Bonagura predicts Auburn to meet up with the Cincinnati Bearcats in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Jan. 2 in Memphis, Tennessee, while Schlabach projects the Tigers to face NC State in the Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 29.
The 4-0 Bearcats will face a great test on Saturday when they battle 3-1 Arizona, and NC State will look to pull off an upset this weekend when it hosts the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday.
The Athletic
The Athletic has not updated its bowl projections since pitting Auburn against Illinois in the Music City Bowl in its preseason outlook. However, Auburn is now projected to win seven games according to The Athletic, and has a 6% chance to reach the College Football Playoff.
CBS Sports
Brad Crawford of CBS Sports has upgraded Auburn's bowl forecast with his latest projection.
This week, Crawford pits Auburn against West Virginia in the Texas Bowl scheduled for Dec. 31 in Houston, Texas. Auburn has not played West Virginia since the 2009 season, when Auburn defeated the Mountaineers in Jordan-Hare Stadium, 41-30, in the game dubbed "the rain game."
Athlon Sports
Athlon Sports sticks with Week 4's prediction by pairing Auburn with West Virginia in the Liberty Bowl. This is the second projection that pits the Tigers and Mountaineers together in what could be an interesting bowl game between Alex Golesh and Rich Rodriguez.
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This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: Bowl projections for the Auburn Tigers ahead of Week 5
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