The 88th SEC season begins with a bang on Saturday, with Auburn hosting Kentucky in the first matchup between two of the eight conference programs ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll.
The Tigers begin the season as the joint No. 8 seed along with Texas, while No. 23 Kentucky is the lowest-ranked team among SEC programs.
Here's all you need to know ahead of Saturday.
- Kickoff time—Auburn hosts Kentucky at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 26.
- TV channel—SEC Network
- Live stream—SEC Network's digital platforms, fuboTV and SlingTV
- Odds—Auburn is a 7.5-point favorite with William Hill and 19/20 to cover the spread, while the over/under line in terms of total points scored is set at 49.5. In moneyline terms, Auburn is a 17/50 favorite, while Kentucky is a 49/20 underdog.
- Series history—Auburn leads the all-time series 26-6-1.
Auburn's 9-4 last season was the seventh consecutive time the Tigers finished the with a record above .500 in as many attempts under Gus Malzahn, but the defeat to Minnesota in the Outback Bowl was their fifth loss in seven Bowl games since 2013.
There were plenty of positives for the Tigers, whose defense was the only one to hold LSU's high-octane offense to below 36 points and helped defeat Alabama in the Iron Bowl courtesy of two pick-sixes. The defense, which ranked 17th against the run and 35th against the pass in the FBS last season, has lost last season's top four defensive backs but should again prove a solid foundation for Auburn thanks to a linebacking corps stacked with talent, while the four returning defensive backs all took at least 300 snaps last season.
On the offensive side of the ball, however, there are far fewer certainties. The players who contributed to 60 of last season's 65 starts in the offensive line have left the program, leaving a brand new line to protect quarterback Bo Nix. In his freshman year, Nix passed for 2,542 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions with a completion rate of 57.6 percent. While not bad by any stretch of the imagination, the Tigers and Malzahn will need Nix to be far better and more consistent if Auburn is to establish itself as a realistic challenger for supremacy in the SEC.
Aside from Nix, more should be expected of wideouts Anthony Schwartz, Eli Stove and Seth Williams, who last season combined for 15 touchdowns and 1,766 yards from scrimmage.
Kentucky, meanwhile, sits at the opposite end of the spectrum as it returns one of the most solid offensive lines in the SEC in front of quarterback Terry Wilson, who's back to the starting job after his junior season was curtailed by injury two games in.
After winning a combined 12 games in Mark Stoops' first three seasons, the Wildcats have finished with a winning record in each of the last four years and won Bowl games over the last two seasons, but maintaining the upward trajectory could prove tricky for Kentucky. Outside of an offense that returns almost all of its key elements, there are other reasons for optimism—with star linebacker Boogie Watson and edge rusher Joshua Paschal both returning.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Dan Cancian is currently a reporter for Newsweek based in London, England. Prior to joining Newsweek in January 2018, he was a news and business reporter at International Business Times UK. Dan has also written for The Guardian and The Observer.
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