College football kicks off in full this weekend, and to celebrate, Erick Smith of USA TODAY Sports is offering up his final College Football Playoff and bowl predictions before the frenzy begins.
Smith’s initial projection was for Auburn to end the season against Big 12 rival West Virginia in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl Classic at Simmons Bank Liberty Bowl Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee.
This will be an exciting matchup as both teams are in the “coming” stages of their rebuild. Auburn won six games last season but has added a ton of talented players that will help them reach new heights, while West Virginia won nine games last season for the first time since 2016 and will be competing for the championship in a “championship at stake” Big 12 this season, with Oklahoma and Texas moving to the SEC.
The Mountaineers averaged 31.5 points per game, ranking fifth in the Big 12 Conference scoring. West Virginia’s strength is its run game, which boasted an impressive 228.9 yards per game in 2023.
The Liberty Bowl connection to Auburn is a popular one, with USA TODAY Sports being the third media outlet to predict the Tigers will be invited to the game. Like Smith and USA TODAY Sports, Athlon Sports also predicts Auburn will play West Virginia, while CBS Sports predicts the Tigers will play TCU in Memphis.
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