Auburn football fans are going to pack Jordan-Hare Stadium to the brim this college season.
While I do expect for Hugh Freeze to turn the Auburn football program around in due time, the fanbase may have unrealistic expectations for him in year one down on The Plains.
Auburn does have the potential to turn it around in a hurry, as illustrated by the magical 2013 season after whatever the hell 2012 was under Gene Chizik. Although I think Freeze is a slightly better coach than an incredibly underrated one in Gus Malzahn, this team went 5-7 last season in the final run of the unmitigated disaster that was the Bryan Harsin era. Still, they are selling out!
Good for Auburn breaking a season-ticket sales record with Freeze building up the hype train.
The 2023 Tigers should get to a bowl, but anything better than an 8-4 mark would be amazing.
Auburn football fans are buying into the 2023 Tigers more than anyone else
Look. You should always be excited about your favorite team's chances each season. To be frank, Auburn is a top-15 program all time and should always be viewed as such. It is arguably the hardest job in the Power Five because its two biggest rivals are Alabama and Georgia, while its tertiary is LSU. Conversely, there are enough resources and passion here to win prolifically here.
In time, I expect for Freeze to be as good as what he was at Arkansas State, Ole Miss and Liberty, if not better, at Auburn. When John Cohen hired him to be the Tigers head coach, it checked the three most important boxes: Did this hire may Alabama, Georgia and LSU uncomfortable? Oh, absolutely! Freeze is an outstanding head coach like Nick Saban, Kirby Smart and Brian Kelly are.
Overall, I do think Auburn will knock off a few teams it should not this year. Freeze will put his new players in advantageous positions to succeed. However, they are not going to have the depth to compete with the likes of Alabama, Georgia and LSU this season. Maybe they beat one, but those are probably three losses Freeze and his staff are going to have to eat in their first season here.
All that matters for Auburn is for the product on the field to give its fans something worthwhile.