Paul Finebaum ‘pretty high’ on Auburn entering 2025

Paul Finebaum has been up and down throughout the offseason on Auburn, most recently being negative on them through the month of July. However, now that it’s August with their season nearly two weeks from kicking off, Finebaum is back having at least some optimism about the Tigers.

Finebaum spoke on where he is with Auburn while on ‘McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning’ on Tuesday. He said he’s “pretty high” on them right now with positive vibes coming from down on The Plains.

“I’m pretty high. And, I was in Alabama all weekend and I heard some of the same things that everybody else was hearing,” said Finebaum. “Right now, you know, you said the word – vibe. What you want right now, two and a half weeks before the first game? You want positivity. You don’t want concern. You don’t want a lot of negative thoughts coming into your mind.

“Quite frankly, I think a lot of things are tilting in Auburn’s direction.”

Auburn has been in fall camp for two weeks now in preparation for a crucial year three for Hugh Freeze. They scrimmaged last week on Friday, as they will on the next two Fridays, going into their Friday night opener in Waco on August 29th.

That opener, despite what positive he’s heard and has been reported on, is why Finebaum, though, isn’t fully there yet with the Tigers. He’s better with them than he was but wants to see how they play at Baylor in their game of the non-conference, as well as eyeing them in their first three conference games at Oklahoma, at Texas A&M, and against Georgia, to see if they can generate the extra boost he needs to be all-in on Auburn.

“They don’t quite have the roster, although they have the best roster in years. They don’t have, I don’t think, as much momentum,” said Finebaum. “They also have a much more difficult opening game…I do think Baylor is extremely good and I think that is why I have some trepidation on going all-in on Auburn until that Friday night has come to an end. Because, if Auburn can win that game, then watch out.

“I think Auburn then, you know, gets a win that many weren’t sure about and you start looking at that very difficult September schedule, leading into Georgia in October, and going, okay, they’re going to have to figure out a way to deal with A&M and Oklahoma. Can they split those two? Can they steal one against Georgia at home? And then, suddenly, you’ve got the momentum leading into the second half, which I think is a lot more favorable. I’m including Alabama in there. I know what I just got through saying about Alabama, but I’ve also been in (Jordan-Hare) many, many times and I’ll save you the clichés. But, if Auburn has momentum going into that, then we have a whole different conversation.”

Things at least sound as though they’re trending the right way for Auburn through the month of August. That said, the Tigers could lose that from the start against the Bears, or over the first half of their season, if they don’t open up at 1-0.