Auburn and Mississippi find themselves in the top five of the College Football Playoff ranking. However, one of those teams will no longer be there after today. The SEC West currently has three teams in the top five and most still have yet to play each other. But the Tigers and the Rebels kickoff an intense few weeks for the conference in a head-to-head matchup that will have big postseason implications.
This game is the first of three matchups against ranked teams. They are headed to face No. 9 Georgia in two weeks before facing No. 3 Alabama at the end of the year. With five games left in the season, the Tigers have an uphill battle for the Playoffs. Ole Miss was just upset by the LSU in a 10-7. They face Auburn and then Mississippi State who sits at the top at the end of the season in the Egg Bowl.
Auburn was able to bounce back from their loss to Mississippi State with a win over South Carolina. However, they let the Gamecocks convert on five fourth-down plays while also executing an onside kick. Auburn ran a season-high 395 yards in the game including 167 from Cameron Artis-Payne. He currently sits as the second leading rusher in the SEC, averaging 118.7 per game. The Tigers have a good history over Ole Miss, but this is an improve team that could test them.
The Rebels have yet to give up more than 20 points in one game. Meanwhile the Auburn Tigers have scored at least 20 points in every game since 2013. The Rebels defense bended to LSU, giving up 264 rushing yards on 55 carries. Meanwhile, Bo Wallace had one of his worst games of the year following a season-low 313 yards. The Rebels attempted to rely more on their defense in the game, something that backfired. Ole Miss now has to deal with injuries to key players including linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche who is out for the remainder of the season.
