In Phil Steele's appearance on ESPN last week, ESPN popped up several statistical graphics — from both Steele and their own stats department — on the upcoming college football season. One of them was showing Auburn's strength of schedule, and used ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI) to say that the Tigers were only favored to win half of their games.
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That's right, this metric favors Auburn to start off the season 5-1 and then drop five of its last six games. The only SEC games where Auburn is favored by ESPN's FPI are home against Mississippi State and away at Kentucky.
This is an extremely odd statistical diversion from where the general opinion is on Auburn in the media. Many expect the Tigers to be a big contender for the SEC, with those at SEC media days choosing Auburn to win the conference. It would be mighty difficult for the Tigers to pull that off while going 6-6.
