On3 slots Auburn at No. 13 in its SEC preseason rankings as Alex Golesh begins his first season

On3’s SEC preseason power rankings have Auburn sitting at No. 13, placing the Tigers just behind the league’s middle tier rather than among the programs expected to contend for the conference’s upper group. In that same ordering, Auburn is listed directly ahead of Mississippi State, Kentucky, and Missouri, a positioning that suggests the market view is that Auburn is still in transition heading into the 2026 season.

The ranking arrives as Auburn prepares for its first year under head coach Alex Golesh. According to the On3-linked reporting, Golesh comes to the Tigers after three seasons at the University of South Florida, where he led teams to winning records in each of his three years and delivered two bowl victories. Auburn’s outlook is being framed around whether Golesh’s offensive identity can stabilize quickly in the SEC’s faster, more physical environment.

Roster turnover is central to the expectation. The reporting describes “a massive roster change” in Auburn’s offseason, including the fact that Golesh brought personnel from his previous stop, with 13 USF players coming through the transfer portal alongside the coaching transition. The most prominent headline addition highlighted in the coverage is USF quarterback Byrum Brown, described as the only player who topped 3,000 passing yards while also rushing for more than 1,000 yards the prior season.

The defensive side of the transition is more complicated. Auburn has kept defensive coordinator DJ Durkin on staff, with the reporting noting he was rumored to be in line for the head coaching job vacancy late in the 2025 season when Hugh Freeze was fired and Durkin served as interim head coach. The same coverage says Auburn made Durkin one of the highest-paid coordinators in the nation, at $2.7 million, and the rationale is tied to continuity after Auburn’s defense helped keep games within reach during the 2025 campaign.

Still, On3’s ranking context matters because it is inherently an expectations exercise, not a forecast of what Auburn will do in September. Power rankings typically compress many questions into a single number: how quickly the staff can install schemes, how well new players fit, and whether the program’s talent distribution matches the demands of SEC play.

Auburn’s key watch for the rest of the offseason and into preseason camp will be the operational side of the change. Golesh’s offense will be the focal point for outside evaluation, but the Tigers’ ability to reduce variance will likely determine whether the No. 13 positioning ages well or collapses under the reality of the SEC schedule.

What follows next is straightforward: as the offseason turns into preseason preparation, the Tigers’ performance in controlled team periods, quarterback command, and how quickly the offense and defense “connect” under the new structure will become the measurable indicators that replace speculation. Until then, Auburn’s place at No. 13 reflects a leaguewide assumption that talent and continuity have not yet fully caught up to Auburn’s coaching reset.