Oct. 31, 2017
By Greg Ostendorf
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" The first College Football Playoff rankings of the season were released Tuesday night, and Auburn made its debut at No. 14.
At 6-2, the Tigers are the top-ranked two-loss team in the country, and they're the third-highest team in the SEC behind Georgia and Alabama ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively. However, they will have the opportunity to face both Georgia and Alabama at home later this month.
Because of that remaining schedule, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit identified Auburn as a potential sleeper team in the rankings.
"Auburn, if they were somehow able to knock off Georgia and Alabama, sitting there with two losses?" Herbstreit said on the ESPN broadcast. "I think Auburn is still a team thinking about trying to surprise some people, and they're definitely in striking distance if they are able to get a couple big wins late in the year."
The Tigers have already faced three teams in the Top 25, including No. 3 Clemson and No. 16 Mississippi State. They beat the latter, 49-10, back in September.
Next up is a trip to Texas A&M this Saturday (11 a.m. CT, ESPN).
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @greg_ostendorf