Auburn Routs Miss St; National Championship Odds Improve to +2500

• Auburn smoked Mississippi State 56-23 on Saturday
• The Tigers still have four games left against Top 10 teams, not including a potential SEC Championship Game
• We preview Auburn’s National Championship odds below

The Auburn Tigers are coming off a resounding drubbing of the Mississippi State Bulldogs. A game that was supposed to be somewhat close proved to be a 56-23 laugher. Are the Tigers actually this good and should we start thinking about them for the National Championship odds? Or are they merely fool’s gold?

2020 CFP National Championship Odds

*Odds taken 09/29/19 

Tigers Crush Mississippi State

When you take a look at the final score, Saturday’s game wasn’t even as close as the 56-23 final numbers might dictate. The score was 49-9 early in the third quarter. There wasn’t much to this game for Auburn as they basically just ran handoffs for touchdowns in the early going as the Bulldogs couldn’t stop the run.

One has to take a closer look at Mississippi State, though, and wonder just how good is this team? They barely beat Louisiana (by 10) in their opener and then also lost at home to Kansas State. They also beat Kentucky but as we’ve come to learn, Kentucky isn’t very good this year.

Auburn deserves plenty of credit, though, as Tigers’ teams of the past wouldn’t have done this. Auburn lost 23-9 to Mississippi State last year and also dropped a game to Tennessee. This year’s Tigers already have credible wins against Oregon and Texas A&M, so they are no joke.

Real Tests Coming Up

It’s always hard to come back later and say that a win wasn’t credible but with Auburn, the jury still has to be out. We know that they’ve fallen way short of expectations in recent years, so while it’s impressive what they’ve done so far, one still has to be careful.

The Oregon win still looks good but it’s not as if the Ducks have been tested since that contest. And while they did beat No. 17 Texas A&M, the Aggies nearly lost outright as a 23-point favorite this week, so maybe that win isn’t as good as it looks. The real tests are coming up.

Auburn has to go to No. 9 Florida this week. They’ll go to No. 4 LSU on October 26 and then host No. 3 Georgia in the middle of November before hosting No. 2 Alabama at the end of the season. That’s one heck of a gauntlet.

What’s the Best Bet?

There’s no question that this Auburn team looks really good right now. Quarterback Bo Nix is fresh off his best game as a pro as he had 335 passing yards and three total touchdowns against Mississippi State. However, I can’t see this team getting through their schedule without one or two losses – even as good as they look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYeInuWsYSI

Prior to yesterday, Nix was averaging just 161.3 passing yards per game. When they start playing the top teams in the SEC, their running game is going to get slowed or cut-off. I don’t know if Nix can elevate his game to pick apart defenses like Florida, Georgia, LSU and Alabama.

At this point, I think this is a really good start for Auburn and they do look legit. Given the schedule, though, I see at least a couple of losses, which will keep them from the College Football Playoff. I wouldn’t bet on their National Championship odds.