Bryan Harsin travels south as he takes over an Auburn program that had its share of ups and downs under Gus Malzahn.
Auburn Tigers 2021 Betting: Win Totals
Bryan Harsin travels south as he takes over an Auburn program that had its share of ups and downs under Gus Malzahn. During Malzahn’s time on the plains, Auburn found itself ranked in the top 10 of the college football AP poll at some point in each of his eight seasons.
The Tigers also finished as runner-up in the final BCS Championship Game and had three wins against Alabama during that time, including the infamous Kick Six.
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The Schedule
At Penn State (9/18): Penn State is only the fifth highest-rated team on Auburn’s schedule, but road games against out-of-conference power teams deserve to be highlighted. The Nittany Lions struggled a season ago but won their last four games and hope to carry that momentum into this season. Penn State owns one of the best home-field advantages in all of college football, and Happy Valley should be rocking in their first big home game with fans returning. BetOnline currently has Penn State as a touchdown favorite.
Georgia (10/9): The Bulldogs are one of five teams that are grouped at the top with the best betting odds to win the national title. Kirby Smart has JT Daniels at quarterback this season who flashed the ability to stretch the field in his starts to end last season. The Bulldogs replace a number of starters on the defensive side of the ball but have highly ranked players at all of the offensive skill positions, a change for Kirby Smart. Georgia has taken four straight games from Auburn and opens with a betting line of -9 per BetOnline.
Alabama (11/27): Arguably the biggest rivalry in all of college football, The Iron Bowl. No team has beaten Alabama more in the Nick Saban era than the Auburn Tigers. Despite two national championships for the Tide during the span, the teams have split the last four meetings. Alabama replaces five first-round draft picks from a season ago but still enters the season as the favorites to win the national championship at +250 per BetUS. BetOnline has an early betting line on this game, favoring the Tide by 17 points.
The Team
Bryan Harsin’s team will look different than the Tigers from a season ago as the Tigers suffered losses to the transfer portal during the offseason. Offensively, quarterback Bo Nix is back in his third year as a starter, and running back Tank Bigsby returns after winning SEC Freshman of the Year. Auburn hopes to get better play from their offensive line as the group struggled at times to protect Nix.
Defensively the team will be led by linebackers Zakobey McClain and Owen Pappoe, while safety Smoke Monday should compete for a spot on the All-SEC team.
The Bet
Under 7 wins.
The schedule for the first-year head coach is absolutely brutal. The Tigers are more than a touchdown underdog in each of the three games listed above and also travel to top 15 teams LSU and Texas A&M during the regular season. Add in games against Ole Miss, Arkansas, and South Carolina; no week is going to offer much of a reprieve for Auburn. A winning season should be considered a success down on the Plains.
Other Bets
Tank Bigsby Heisman Trophy Winner: The team will struggle to be competitive enough for Bigsby to get any serious consideration, but the sophomore runner burst onto the scene a season ago. BetOnline has Bigsby’s odds at +6600 to hoist the trophy, while Bovada has the odds at +7000.
Auburn Moneyline At Penn State (9/18): Auburn didn’t fare well against Penn State’s conference rival, Northwestern, in their bowl game a season ago. Penn State struggled greatly last season before ending the season with a few wins, but the Nittany Lions lost a few key pieces to their roster as well. Both teams have question marks, so this may be one to circle. No odds have been listed for an outright win yet.