For the second straight year, the Auburn Tigers will begin their season ranked in the top 10 of the Preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Auburn checks in at No. 6, making it the second-highest ranked team in the SEC behind archrival Alabama, who is ranked third.
The top 10 teams include defending champion Ohio State at No. 1, followed by TCU, Alabama, Baylor, Michigan State, Auburn, Oregon, USC, Georgia and Florida State.
The voters continue to partake in the national perception that Auburn, after finishing at a lackluster 8-5 in 2014, will bounce back in 2015.
A large part of that thinking comes from the hire of defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, who will be tasked with turning around an Auburn defense that finished ninth in the SEC in total defense.
Quarterback Nick Marshall graduated, but junior Jeremy Johnson has shown he has the capability to lead coach Gus Malzahn’s vaunted high-powered offense with ease. Johnson has gotten his fair share of national attention as well, as his odds to win the Heisman Trophy currently sit at 12-1, tied for third-best in the country.
Auburn’s 2015 schedule includes five teams ranked in the top 25: No. 3 Alabama, No. 9 Georgia, No. 14 LSU, No. 17 Ole Miss and No. 18 Arkansas.
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