Hugh Freeze’s third season on the Plains opens against a familiar Group of Five opponent and ends the way every Auburn football schedule does, with Alabama. Between those bookends sit nine conference games, a neutral-site showcase in Atlanta, and a non-conference trip to a Big 12 venue that has rarely welcomed SEC teams. The Auburn football schedule 2025 listed below carries every confirmed date, opponent, and location from the latest league release, plus the context a fan needs before kickoff: rivalry history, short-week situations, and the early projections that shape which Saturdays matter most.
This page is built as a reader-first reference. Official game times and broadcast windows update throughout the preseason, so checking back as kickoff windows tighten in late August is worth doing. Everything else here is organized around the questions Auburn supporters ask most often: how hard the early stretch really is, when the Tigers get their open date, and which late-season stretch decides whether the program plays in Atlanta in December.
Auburn football schedule 2025
The complete Auburn football schedule 2025, listing every confirmed regular-season game, date, opponent, location, and the conference or non-conference label. Game times and TV networks are listed as the SEC and broadcast partners finalize them, which typically happens 12 days before each kickoff.
| Week | Date | Opponent | Location | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sat, Aug 30 | Ball State | Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn AL | Non-conference |
| 2 | Sat, Sep 6 | vs. Baylor (Atlanta) | Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta GA | Non-conference (neutral) |
| 3 | Sat, Sep 13 | South Alabama | Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn AL | Non-conference |
| 4 | Sat, Sep 20 | Oklahoma | Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn AL | SEC |
| 5 | Sat, Sep 27 | Bye week | — | Open date |
| 6 | Sat, Oct 4 | Texas A&M | Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn AL | SEC |
| 7 | Sat, Oct 11 | at Missouri | Memorial Stadium, Columbia MO | SEC |
| 8 | Sat, Oct 18 | at Arkansas | Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville AR | SEC |
| 9 | Sat, Oct 25 | Ole Miss | Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn AL | SEC |
| 10 | Sat, Nov 1 | at Kentucky | Kroger Field, Lexington KY | SEC |
| 11 | Sat, Nov 8 | Vanderbilt | Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn AL | SEC |
| 12 | Sat, Nov 15 | at Texas A&M | Kyle Field, College Station TX | SEC |
| 13 | Sat, Nov 22 | Mercer | Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn AL | Non-conference |
| 14 | Fri, Nov 28 | Alabama | Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn AL | SEC (Iron Bowl) |
Auburn has seven home games inside Jordan-Hare, two true road SEC games, one neutral-site SEC-style showcase in Atlanta, and one late-season non-conference tune-up against Mercer before the Iron Bowl. The Tigers’ open date falls in Week 5, a useful reset point before the back half of the schedule swings fully into SEC play.
How the 2025 slate is structured
SEC scheduling now uses a single nine-game conference format with three permanent opponents and six rotating matchups, and Auburn’s 2025 rotation pulls in Oklahoma and Missouri from the East side of the previous alignment. The result is a clean split: three early non-conference tune-ups, a marquee non-conference game in Atlanta, and then a nine-game SEC run that ends with the Iron Bowl on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
The schedule has three distinct phases, and the way Freeze splits reps in August usually follows the same shape:
- September setup (Weeks 1-4): Ball State, a neutral-site meeting with Baylor, South Alabama at home, and the SEC opener against Oklahoma. Three of these four games are at Jordan-Hare, which gives Auburn a chance to build rhythm before the league schedule gets serious.
- Midseason grind (Weeks 6-10): Five straight SEC games, split between home matchups with Texas A&M and Ole Miss and road trips to Missouri, Arkansas, and Kentucky. This is the stretch that typically defines a season in the SEC West-era schedule, and the one that decides whether Auburn finishes above or below .500 in league play.
- November closing run (Weeks 11-14): Vanderbilt at home, a return trip to Texas A&M, Mercer for a late breath, and the Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare. Four games in four weeks with no bye means depth and injury management matter more than usual, especially along the offensive line.
The Iron Bowl landing on Friday, November 28 reflects the long-standing arrangement that the Auburn-Alabama regular-season finale plays on the Friday after Thanksgiving. CBS and ESPN typically split that window in even years, and the exact network is confirmed closer to the date.
Key games and rivalry notes
Not every game on the Auburn football schedule 2025 carries the same weight. The four matchups below are the ones that shape fan calendars, recruiting weekends, and the early bowl projections.
vs. Baylor in Atlanta (Sep 6)
The neutral-site game against Baylor is played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium as part of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game weekend. It is Auburn’s first true neutral-site test of the season and an early data point on how the offensive line handles a Big 12 front. The game also matters off the field: Atlanta is the heart of Auburn’s in-state recruiting footprint, and a clean performance in front of that audience sets a tone for the rest of September. Auburn has lost its last two Chick-fil-A Kickoff appearances, so there is some recent history to push back against.
Oklahoma at home (Sep 20)
Oklahoma visits Jordan-Hare for the first time as an SEC opponent. The Sooners bring one of the deepest offensive lines in the league and a defense that is rebuilding under a new defensive coordinator, which is the kind of matchup that favors a team still finding its identity on both sides of the ball. Auburn has historically played the Sooners well at home, and a win here would be the single most important data point of the early season for a fan base that has watched close losses to Power opponents pile up over the last two years.
Iron Bowl vs. Alabama (Nov 28)
The annual season finale with Alabama is the centerpiece of the Auburn football schedule every year, and 2025 is no different. The game rotates between campuses on a yearly basis, and this season Auburn hosts it. Kickoff is set for the Friday after Thanksgiving, with the broadcast window split between the SEC’s primary partners. Win-loss records are usually irrelevant: the Iron Bowl has decided SEC Championship Game berths, division titles, and College Football Playoff hopes, and the rivalry’s tendency to ignore form makes it the hardest game to project on any slate.
at Texas A&M (Nov 15)
The Aggies are a full conference opponent now, and Kyle Field at night is one of the most hostile venues in college football. The road leg of the Texas A&M series falls late in the year, after both teams have a full body of SEC work, and the result often swings bowl placement in the middle tier of the league standings. Auburn has not won in College Station since 2018, and the schedule setup gives the program a real chance to break that streak in front of a national TV audience.
Strength of schedule and early projections
On paper, the 2025 Auburn football schedule ranks among the harder slates in the SEC. Auburn draws Oklahoma and both Texas A&M matchups, and the road trips to Arkansas, Missouri, and Kentucky all fall in the heart of the schedule. The non-conference trio of Ball State, Baylor, and Mercer is manageable, which is typical for a program that prefers to test its roster against Power Four opponents rather than load up on FCS games. Early SP+ projections from ESPN and Phil Steele’s 2025 college football preview both place Auburn’s slate in the top quartile of SEC difficulty, though those numbers shift once results start to land.
A practical way to read the schedule is in three tiers:
- Tier 1 swing games: Oklahoma, at Arkansas, Ole Miss, and the Iron Bowl. Auburn likely needs to win at least two of these four to keep the postseason conversation alive and avoid a fourth straight season outside the New Year’s Six window.
- Tier 2 must-win games: Texas A&M (home), at Missouri, at Kentucky, and the Baylor neutral-site game. The Tigers should be favored in three of these, with Missouri and the Aggies road leg the trickier spots.
- Tier 3 expected wins: Ball State, South Alabama, Vanderbilt, and Mercer. None of these should be a toss-up at full strength, and a loss in any of them is a serious warning sign for the rest of the season.
The open date in Week 5 is positioned well. It gives Auburn a clean recovery window after the first three games and before a five-game SEC run that decides most of the season. Coaches typically use that bye to reset the offensive line rotation, settle on a starting cornerback pair, and install the wrinkles for the back half of the schedule. The Week 4 Oklahoma game also gives Freeze a usable trial run before the bye, rather than asking the staff to fix a losing record in Week 5.
TV, streaming, and broadcast notes
The SEC’s broadcast agreement with ABC, ESPN, and CBS runs through the 2025 season, and most Auburn games will land on one of those three networks. CBS retains the SEC Game of the Week slot, ESPN holds the night windows, and ABC/ESPN+ picks up overflow inventory. Streaming is straightforward: an ESPN+ subscription handles non-televised overflow, and SEC Network+ via ESPN covers the rare early-season games that do not land on a flagship network.
| Typical kickoff window | Primary network | Streaming option | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11:00 am CT | SEC Network | SECN+ via ESPN | Occasional early kick for September non-conference |
| 2:30 pm CT | CBS or ABC | Paramount+ or ESPN+ | Standard SEC afternoon window |
| 6:00 pm CT | ESPN or SEC Network | ESPN+ or SECN+ | Primary SEC night game slot |
| Iron Bowl (Fri) | CBS or ESPN | Paramount+ or ESPN+ | Split between partners in even years |
Kickoff times for individual games are usually confirmed 12 days in advance, and the SEC’s “six-day” rule still applies for several September games. If you are planning travel, treat anything earlier than mid-August as preliminary. The Iron Bowl announcement usually comes about two weeks out and tends to dominate sports talk radio in Alabama for the days that follow.
Home schedule at Jordan-Hare
Auburn plays seven regular-season home games at Jordan-Hare Stadium in 2025, plus the Iron Bowl on the final weekend. The home slate is front-loaded with non-conference games, which helps the stadium operations and recruiting staff build early momentum. Season-ticket renewals and single-game inventory typically go on sale in the spring, and the marquee home games fill up first.
- Aug 30 vs. Ball State
- Sep 13 vs. South Alabama
- Sep 20 vs. Oklahoma
- Oct 4 vs. Texas A&M
- Oct 25 vs. Ole Miss
- Nov 8 vs. Vanderbilt
- Nov 22 vs. Mercer
- Nov 28 vs. Alabama (Iron Bowl)
Eight home dates is one more than the SEC baseline because the league has settled on a model where most teams host seven games plus one rivalry weekend. For Auburn, that extra date is the Iron Bowl, which falls in Auburn in odd years under the current rotation. The Sept 20 Oklahoma game is already tracking as a sellout based on early renewal data, and the Iron Bowl typically clears the secondary market within hours of the official kickoff announcement.
Road games and travel planning
Auburn’s 2025 road schedule is compact: three true away games, one neutral-site game, and the Iron Bowl at home. That mix is friendlier than last season’s travel load, but the venues still demand preparation.
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Travel note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 6 | vs. Baylor | Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta | 2.5-hour drive from Auburn; large neutral-site crowd |
| Oct 11 | at Missouri | Memorial Stadium, Columbia MO | Longest SEC drive of the year; plan an overnight |
| Oct 18 | at Arkansas | Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium | Southwest drive; hot midday kickoffs common |
| Nov 1 | at Kentucky | Kroger Field, Lexington KY | Eastern time zone; afternoon kickoffs most likely |
| Nov 15 | at Texas A&M | Kyle Field, College Station TX | Night game expected; book lodging early |
For fans driving to Arkansas, Missouri, and Kentucky, the most common mistake is underestimating the time change. Two of the three SEC road games (Missouri and Kentucky) fall in the central or eastern time zone, and Auburn’s body clocks rarely adjust in time for a noon kick. The Texas A&M trip is the easiest to plan because the venue is built for visitors and most fans book the same tailgating lots every year, though the postgame traffic out of College Station can stretch past midnight on a Friday night kickoff. Atlanta is short enough that a one-day bus trip is realistic for alumni clubs, and several Birmingham-based groups already run shuttles for the Baylor game.
How this schedule compares to recent Auburn seasons
The 2024 Auburn football schedule opened with a Week 1 visit to a Group of Five opponent and a Week 2 neutral-site game, then shifted into SEC play without a true bye until late October. The 2025 slate is a clear improvement on that timing. A Week 5 bye gives the staff a natural midseason reset, and three of the four pre-bye games are at home, which is the ideal environment for a new starting quarterback to find rhythm.
Compared to 2023, the schedule is harder on the front end. Oklahoma, Baylor, and Texas A&M are all Power-conference opponents, and the SEC opener falls in Week 4 instead of Week 3. That extra week of non-conference work is a tradeoff: less time to prepare for the conference season, but a steadier ramp-up. The back half is also tougher than 2023, when Auburn closed with Vanderbilt, New Mexico State, and a road trip to Alabama; the 2025 closing run has both Texas A&M and the Iron Bowl inside the last three weeks, with no warm-up opponent to buffer them.
Frequently asked questions
When does the Auburn football schedule 2025 start?
The season opens on Saturday, August 30, 2025, at home against Ball State. Kickoff time and broadcast partner are confirmed roughly 12 days before the game, and the SEC typically pairs Week 1 non-conference home games with a 6:00 pm CT window.
Where is the Iron Bowl in 2025?
The Iron Bowl is played at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn on Friday, November 28, 2025. The game rotates between campuses each season under the long-standing Auburn-Alabama arrangement, and Auburn gets the home date in odd-numbered years.
Does Auburn have a bye week in 2025?
Yes. Auburn’s open date is in Week 5, on Saturday, September 27, 2025. It is the only bye of the regular season, and it falls between the SEC opener against Oklahoma and the October home game with Texas A&M.
When do Auburn SEC conference games start in 2025?
The SEC opener is on Saturday, September 20, 2025, when Oklahoma visits Jordan-Hare Stadium. It is the first of nine conference games on the Auburn football schedule 2025.
What is the toughest game on Auburn’s 2025 schedule?
On paper, the Oklahoma home game and the Texas A&M road game are the toughest matchups, but rivalry games rarely follow the projections, and the Iron Bowl always carries its own logic that ignores form.
How many home games does Auburn play in 2025?
Auburn plays seven regular-season home games at Jordan-Hare Stadium in 2025, plus the Iron Bowl on the final weekend. That is one more than the SEC baseline because the league schedule includes one guaranteed rivalry weekend for each program.
Where can I stream Auburn football games?
Most Auburn games air on ABC, ESPN, CBS, or SEC Network, all of which are available through ESPN+ or Paramount+ depending on the network. The SEC Network+ streaming option on ESPN carries overflow games that do not land on a flagship channel.
What is Auburn’s neutral-site game in 2025?
Auburn plays Baylor on Saturday, September 6, 2025, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta as part of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. It counts as a non-conference game on the schedule but is technically played at a neutral site.
When is the last regular-season game of Auburn’s 2025 schedule?
The regular season ends on Friday, November 28, 2025, with the Iron Bowl against Alabama at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Kickoff is set for the Friday after Thanksgiving, with the broadcast window split between CBS and ESPN.
Will Auburn’s 2025 schedule affect bowl eligibility?
The schedule is hard enough that bowl eligibility will likely hinge on the Week 4 Oklahoma game and the late road trips to Arkansas and Texas A&M. A clean non-conference record plus two or three SEC wins usually clears the bowl threshold in the current 12-team format, though the postseason picture depends heavily on which tiebreakers fall Auburn’s way.
What time zone should Auburn fans know for road games?
Two of Auburn’s three true SEC road games (Missouri and Kentucky) sit in the central or eastern time zone, while Texas A&M is also central. Atlanta for the Baylor game is eastern, so most Auburn travel involves at least a one-hour clock shift.