Auburn Football: Five reasons why Tigers will win 2017 national title

4. Plenty of experience

Auburn is tied for fifth in the SEC in returning starters (15). Among the other teams with a significant number of returning starters, only Georgia had as good an overall record as Auburn (identical at 8-5) and only two (out of five other teams) finished with a winning record (the other being Kentucky).

Of great importance, Auburn returns starters at critical positions. Auburn returns Kamryn Pettway as the starting running back and Kerryon Johnson as his backup. The team also returns two starters at wide receiver and another receiver who started a game last season but was severely reduced by injuries (Nate Craig-Myers). Also, Auburn returns three starters on the offensive line and gained a senior transfer from Florida State in guard Wilson Bell.

Auburn returns three starters in the secondary, two starters at linebacker, and two defensive linemen. Finally, Auburn gets one more year of one of the nation’s best kickers in Daniel Carlson. Carlson can hit long-range field goals and is almost a guaranteed touchback with each kickoff.