Ranked No. 2, Auburn moves one step closer to CFB Playoff

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Nov. 28, 2017

By Greg Ostendorf
AuburnTigers.com

AUBURN, Ala. -- Since losing to LSU, the goal for Auburn has been to win each and every game, win the SEC and let everything else sort itself out. The Tigers did their part. And now, despite having two losses, it looks like they are one win away from reaching the College Football Playoff.

The new playoff rankings were released Tuesday, and following a 26-14 win over No. 1 Alabama, Auburn jumped four spots to No. 2 -- which means if the season were to end today, the Tigers would be in the playoff.

However, the season doesn't end today. There's still one more game Saturday against Georgia that will decide the SEC champion and which team makes the playoff.

"We didn't set that goal (winning the SEC) for nothing," Auburn running back Kerryon Johnson said. "Our goal is to go out there and win. We realize we have a talented team in front of us again, but we played three teams -- Clemson, Georgia, Alabama -- so we've gone up against solid teams all year. We realize that we've been battle-tested, and we realize that things happen and you've got to respond to adversity.

"Our goal has been to win it, and we have the chance now. It was all talk before, but now we've got to go out there and prove it."

The rest of the top four this week includes No. 1 Clemson, No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 4 Wisconsin.

Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @greg_ostendorf