AP and Coaches polls

[aubiefifty 17,487]

Auburn moves up in AP, coaches polls ahead of SEC opener

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

2-3 minutes

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Sep 24, 2021; Auburn, AL, USA; Elijah Canion (17) reaches for the ball between Auburn and Georgia State at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Todd Van Emst/AU AthleticsTodd Van Emst/AU Athletics

Auburn is on the rise heading into SEC play after it narrowly avoided a catastrophic loss to Georgia State.

Auburn moved up one spot in both the AP and coaches polls released Sunday. The Tigers checked in at No. 22 in each poll after being ranked 23rd following a Week 3 loss to Penn State.

The team’s rise was somewhat of a surprise after it needed a second-half rally to complete a come-from-behind 34-24 win against Georgia State, a Sun Belt opponent, on homecoming. The Tigers (3-1) rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit thanks to a second-half defensive turnaround and late 98-yard touchdown drive led by backup quarterback T.J. Finley, who found Shedrick Jackson for the 10-yard go-ahead touchdown on fourth-and-9 with 45 seconds left.

It was hardly the prettiest or most impressive performance from Auburn, but it was a gutsy one for first-year coach Bryan Harsin and his team. Now Auburn will head into SEC play with a road trip to LSU next weekend for the first of eight consecutive conference games to close out the regular season.

Auburn has not won in Death Valley since 1999, and the team enters the game as a four-point underdog.

Auburn is one of seven SEC teams ranked in this week’s AP poll, which includes No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Georgia, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 10 Florida, No. 12 Ole Miss and No. 15 Texas A&M. Five of the six SEC teams ahead of Auburn are on the Tigers’ SEC slate this season, with Alabama, Georgia and Ole Miss coming to Jordan-Hare Stadium and road trips to Arkansas and Texas A&M also on the schedule.

The Tigers were one of eight SEC teams ranked in the coaches poll, with the aforementioned six ahead of them and Kentucky (4-0) checking in one spot behind Auburn at No. 23 this week.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

[aubiefifty 17,487]

how we moved up after that first half shocks me. i guess it was the typical "gutsy ending" or something of that nature.

[Mikey 16,781]

1 minute ago, aubiefifty said:

how we moved up after that first half shocks me. i guess it was the typical "gutsy ending" or something of that nature.

I think us moving up had more to do with a number of teams that had been ahead of us losing. Upgrade by default?

[AuCivilEng1 11,115]

I’m surprised LSU hasn’t gotten back up there. They have one loss and it’s LSU. 

[PDub 211]

8 minutes ago, Mikey said:

I think us moving up had more to do with a number of teams that had been ahead of us losing. Upgrade by default?

Seems likely

Edited September 27, 2021 by PDub

[Strychnine 1,804]

58 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

how we moved up after that first half shocks me. i guess it was the typical "gutsy ending" or something of that nature.

 

Probably a combination of other teams losing, and pollsters do not watch all the games.

[AuburnEagle79 2,171]

3 hours ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

I’m surprised LSU hasn’t gotten back up there. They have one loss and it’s LSU. 

They are everyone's whipping boy at the moment with all that's going on there. I'd say they have more talent than us, but we are getting the benefit of the doubt for a close loss at Penn State (which I disagree with).