The Auburn Tigers have not lived up to expectations on the gridiron for most of the decade, but with back-to-back highly touted recruiting classes and an abundance of impact transfers on the way, Hugh Freeze’s squad is expected to compete for at the top half of the SEC in 2025.
Those high expectations were displayed in ESPN’s opening Football Power Index rankings, in which Auburn was one of the biggest risers from last year’s list. The Tigers checked in at the No. 14 spot in the FPI, sandwiched between a pair of fellow SEC teams in Ole Miss (No. 13) and South Carolina (No. 15).
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The ranking was a huge jump from where the Tigers finished 2024, as Hugh Freeze’s team didn’t even finish inside of the top 30 after losing the Iron Bowl and missing out on a bowl game. Auburn’s 17 spot jump from No. 31 to No. 14 was the largest among teams currently ranked in the top 20. Hugh Freeze’s squad is the only program ranked in the top 15 that did not finish last season ranked in the top 25.
While the jump, and the company Auburn has enjoyed because of it, may seem like an ambitious projection, it does make sense when looking at the drastically improved nature of the Tigers roster.
Next season’s version of the Tigers will feature a new signal caller under center, a myriad of four and five-star recruits on the defensive side of the football, and a receiving duo of Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton Jr. that is being described as a top duo in the nation by many experts.
The next step for Hugh Freeze’s squad is to prove it on Saturdays in the fall. If they don’t, the No. 14 team in FPI will fall right back to No. 31 before long.
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This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: Auburn receives massive jump in ESPN FPI heading into 2025 season
