Joel Klatt reveals why Auburn is a Top-25 team in his Way-Too-Early Rankings

Auburn has won six games or less in every season so far this decade with four straight losing finishes down on The Plains. The Tigers, though, have developed during this tenure to the point where this fall could be the one where they end that average-or-below run.

Joel Klatt released his Post-Spring Top-25 during the latest episode of his show on Monday. Auburn appeared early in that ranking with them slotting in at No. 22 as of now for 2025.

“Auburn is a good football team,” said Klatt. “I’m going to throw them at 22.”

Recruiting is at the center of this rating of Auburn. That starts at the high school level with the Tigers having signed consecutive classes ranked, with 47 recruits in total including a Five-Star+ prospect in WR Cam Coleman , a five-star in QB Deuce Knight, and 26 four-stars among them, at No. 8 in the nation according to On3’s Industry Team Recruiting Rankings in 2024 and 2025. The Tigers have also brought in a pair of Top-20 classes the past two offseasons from the NCAA Transfer Portal, including one that currently ranks at No. 6 in On3’s 2025 Team Transfer Portal Rankings.

“The talent level has been rising at Auburn for the last couple of years,” said Klatt. “Hugh Freeze? He recruits well. We all know that. He’s entering year three. They’ve had back-to-back top-ten classes as it relates to high school recruits.

“They’ve been active in the portal. Jackson Arnold transfers in from Oklahoma, the former five-star player, and he’ll be the quarterback at Auburn. They’ve got Cam Coleman at wide receiver, who I think is a really good player. And then, they’ve got a couple of guys in the portal. And one more in particular and this was quiet, I think, for the most part, maybe not down south among Auburn fans. But, the number one wide receiver in the portal chose Auburn – Eric Singleton from Georgia Tech. I think he could have a big year for the Tigers.”

Still, Auburn has to put that all together in a third year under Freeze. They were doing well in his debut season before losing each of their final three at home to New Mexico State, to Alabama at home on the Gravedigger in the Iron Bowl, and then Maryland in the Music City Bowl to finish at 6-7. They then didn’t make a bowl last season after starting at 2-5 before finishing at 5-7.

Auburn has enough talent in the program now where they’ll be playing for much more than five or six wins. It’s now about actually going out there and winning those games in looking for their best record in more than a half decade since the end of the 2010s.

“We’ll see what they’re able to do,” Klatt said.