Auburn Football: Will Gus Malzahn avoid hot seat with bounce-back?

How will the Tigers fare in 2019?

• Week 1: vs. Oregon (Aug. 31)
• Week 2: Tulane (Sep. 7)
• Week 3: Kent State (Sep. 14)
• Week 4: at Texas A&M (Sep. 21)
• Week 5: Mississippi State (Sep. 28)
• Week 6: at Florida (Oct. 5)
• Week 7: BYE
• Week 8: at Arkansas (Oct. 19)
• Week 9: at LSU (Oct. 26)
• Week 10: Ole Miss (Nov. 2)
• Week 11: BYE
• Week 12: Georgia (Nov. 16)
• Week 13: Samford (Nov. 23)
• Week 14: Alabama (Nov. 30)

Auburn will open 2019 in a very similar fashion to 2018. Once again, the Tigers play a Pac-12 team at a neutral site. This year, they’ll swap Washington for Oregon and Atlanta for Arlington. Against Washington, the Tigers had a significant advantage in terms of attendance, but this matchup may be a bit more neutral.

After Week 3, things don’t get easy. The SEC schedule is brutal, and it features road trips to Texas A&M, Florida, and LSU. The Tigers will play Georgia and Alabama at home, but that doesn’t guarantee victory against two of the top three teams in the country.

The Tigers have one of the toughest schedules in the country. They start off with a top-10 quality team, and they’ll still be breaking in a freshman quarterback when they go on the road to Texas A&M in Week 4. For a lot of teams, a rocky first month with a freshman can be overcome. For Auburn, the first month is the easiest part of the season.

Record: 7-5, 4-4 SEC

A 7-5 record isn’t good enough at Auburn. Malzahn enters the year on the hot seat, and despite having a great roster, the quarterback situation and the schedule are a formula that doesn’t bode well for the Gus Bus.