Even though we projected that Auburn would rise from No. 10 to No. 8 after its 24-13 win against Southern Miss, we weren’t convinced that was going to happen.
It was possible that Penn State, even though it lost to Ohio State, could slip past Auburn. It also was possible that Washington — even though this one is a much tougher sell — might have overtaken Auburn despite losing to the Tigers in Week 1.
But that didn’t happen.
Instead, Auburn moved up two places in the poll.
And the scary thing is, as poorly as Auburn has been on offense, with very winnable games the next three weeks — games the Tigers will be favored to win — the opportunity to move up higher is there.