Auburn Football Named Among Programs with Most to Prove in 2025

The Auburn Tigers are entering year three under head coach Hugh Freeze, and it’s viewed as a crucial year for his tenure.

CBS Sports’ Josh Pate named Auburn as one of the college football programs with the most to prove in 2025. On his college football show on YouTube, looked at the rebuild happening on the Plains.

Freeze, in Pate’s mind, had to start from scratch given the situation he took on, and patience had to be key.

“I’ve been willing to wait. I don’t think everyone has been but I’ve been willing to wait,” Pate said. “ I thought he inherited a pretty bad situation roster-wise. So, it was going to take some time.”

So far, Auburn is 11-14 under Freeze and they missed out on a bowl game in 2024. But they’ve been scoring big on the recruiting trail. For the 2025 class, Auburn was sixth overall and was eighth the year before, according to 247 Sports.

They’ve also reset their entire quarterback room with the highlight being Oklahoma transfer Jackson Arnold. Other names, such as incoming freshman Deuce Knight, were not mentioned.

With the pieces coming into place, Pate believes Auburn has to make the jump into playoff contention.

“The head coach at Auburn in year three or four, whatever it is. No, that’s not lofty,” Pate said. “That’s perfectly reasonable to be given three years to clean this out, to clear out the dead brush, plant your own seeds and start to see returns.”

Pate said he thinks having Georgia and the Iron Bowl at home this season will help.

Auburn will also have Baylor on the slate to open the season on the road. The Bears are coming off an 8-5 season, providing the Tigers with a winnable matchup that is also multiple steps above a tune-up.