The Auburn Tigers still have time to reach six wins and earn bowl eligibility, but several outlets are starting to lose hope that the Tigers will reach that goal.
Entering Week 7 of the college football season, two major outlets have predicted Auburn will reach the postseason for the first time since 2023, while one has left the Tigers out of its latest bowl predictions. How likely is it for Auburn to reach six wins this season? ESPN's latest Football Power Index update forecasts Auburn to win just two more games this season, meaning the Tigers will need to pull off an upset or two over the next seven weeks to lock in a bowl bid.
Many national publications project the Tigers to reach the postseason ahead of Week 7. Here is a look at Auburn football's latest bowl projections ahead of this weekend's action across college football.
USA TODAY Sports
USA TODAY's Erick Smith returns to his prediction from two weeks ago by pairing Auburn with Memphis in the Birmingham Bowl. Last week, Smith projected Auburn to meet another American Athletic Conference squad, Tulane, in the Gasparilla Bowl. However, he remains confident the Tigers will face a member of the AAC in a postseason contest.
ESPN
For the first time this season, the ESPN duo of Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach agree on a bowl destination for the Auburn Tigers. Bonagura and Schlabach both predict that Auburn will compete in the Birmingham Bowl, but against different opponents.
Bonagura forecasts Auburn to meet the Tulane Green Wave in Protective Stadium on Dec. 29. The Green Wave are 2-3 entering Week 7, and share a common win with Auburn, Southern Miss. Tulane has two losses over Power Four teams in Duke and Kansas State, and has an important game at home against Memphis on Friday.
Schlabach projects a Power Four matchup in the Birmingham Bowl with Auburn facing NC State. The Wolfpack are 3-3 and was a mere second from being 4-2. NC State fell to Vanderbilt in bizarre fashion in Week 3 after losing a fumble in the end zone that Vanderbilt recovered for a touchdown as time expired in the 4th quarter. A week later, Auburn defeated Vanderbilt, 21-15, to win its first SEC game of the Alex Golesh era.
CBS Sports
Auburn has plenty of time to build six wins this season, but Brad Crawford of CBS Sports is not confident it will happen. Crawford has omitted the Tigers from CBS Sports' bowl projections this week.
Athlon Sports
For the second week in a row, Athlon Sports leaves Auburn out of their weekly bowl projections. Auburn sits at 3-2 entering Week 7 and will need to upset Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, or Alabama to reach the six necessary wins to earn bowl eligibility.
Taylor Jones is the lead writer for Auburn Wire, part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) and BlueSky. Follow Auburn Wire on X and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: Bowl projections: It's Birmingham or nothing for the Auburn Tigers