Auburn vs The Top 25: Tigers Face Five Teams Ranked Pre-Season Top 25

Just over two weeks ago the Amway Coaches Poll was released. The Tigers face five opponents ranked in the Top 25 of that poll. This morning, the AP Poll released their preseason rankings, and the results are the same.

Two of Auburn's first four opponents - Clemson and LSU - are ranked in the Top 5. They're #2 and #5 respectively. Auburn also faces #1 Alabama, #11 Ole Miss, and #18 Georgia over the course of the season.

While unranked, the Tigers are sitting at #33 from the "Others Receiving Votes" category. Texas A&M sits ahead of Auburn at #27, with Arkansas just behind at #35. The only SEC West team to not make it in any way is Mississippi State.

The preseason polls are typically close to each other, so it's not surprising to see things play out this way with similar schedules. Could things change quickly? Of course they could.

Texas A&M opens the season with UCLA and Prairie View A&M. There's a possibility that with some upsets ahead of them, they could jump into the Top 25 by the time Auburn plays them in Week 3. I still like the way the schedule sets up, though. With no back-to-back road games and the contests against currently ranked teams spread out or around open dates, Auburn could make a decent run if things work out well on the field.

Of course, there is the problem that three of those five ranked teams will be played on the road and in the final three road games of the season. That's not something that is going to be easy to deal with at all.

1		Alabama (33) SEC Record: 14-1	PV Rank 1 Points 1,469
2		Clemson (16) ACC Record: 14-1	2 1,443
3		Oklahoma (4) Big 12 Record: 11-2	5 1,352
4		Florida State (5) ACC Record: 10-3	14 1,325
5		LSU (1) SEC Record: 9-3	16 1,269
6		Ohio State (1) Big Ten Record: 12-1	4 1,224
7		Michigan (1) Big Ten Record: 10-3	12 1,147
8		Stanford Pac-12 Record: 12-2	3 1,029
9		Tennessee SEC Record: 9-4	22 1,021
10		Notre Dame Division I FBS Independents Record: 10-3	11 1,006
11		Mississippi SEC Record: 10-3	10 718
12		Michigan State Big Ten Record: 12-2	6 710
13		TCU Big 12 Record: 11-2	7 707
14		Washington Pac-12 Record: 7-6	- 651
15		Houston The American Record: 13-1	8 644
16		UCLA Pac-12 Record: 8-5	- 496
17		Iowa Big Ten Record: 12-2	9 484
18		Georgia SEC Record: 10-3	- 448
19		Louisville ACC Record: 8-5	- 447
20		USC Pac-12 Record: 8-6	- 344
21		Oklahoma State Big 12 Record: 10-3	20 316
22		North Carolina ACC Record: 11-3	15 283
23		Baylor Big 12 Record: 10-3	13 280
24		Oregon Pac-12 Record: 9-4	19 218
25		Florida SEC Record: 10-4	25 180