Bye weeks are a good opportunity for healing beaten bodies. But bye weeks can also help to heal beaten spirits. And right now, there’s no more beaten-down program in the SEC than the 2-4 Auburn Tigers, a team that began the year with promise and hope and now stands on the edge of yet another wasted season in a long, maddening string of them.
Auburn travels to No. 19 Missouri this week in a game that’s crucial for the Tigers’ mindset, success and future. Yet another SEC loss — Auburn is already 0-3 in conference play — and the Tigers will slide even faster toward a total collapse, with reverberations that could last well beyond 2024.