Auburn's 2026 schedule is filled with several headlining SEC matchups, and its power stripe game at Jordan-Hare Stadium against the Florida Gators stands out as one of the Tigers’ most important tests of the season.
Last season, Florida began under pressure and high expectations, having been ranked No. 15 by the Preseason AP Top 25 Poll and underperforming early on. The 2025 Gators finished with a 4-8 overall record, winning just two of their eight SEC matchups.
Florida fired its head coach Billy Napier after his team put up a 3-4 record, making his overall record during his four-season tenure with the Gators at 22-23, a winning percentage of .489.
Although Billy Gonzales took over as the interim head coach for the rest of 2025, Florida still struggled, going 1-4 during his reign. Florida looked for a change following this season and hired Jon Sumrall in the offseason in hopes of improvement. Sumrall has served the football staff at several different schools, such as San Diego, Kentucky, Troy and most recently, he served as Tulane’s head coach.
Despite only four of Tulane’s starters returning for the 2025 season, Sumrall worked with what he had. He guided Tulane to end the season ranked No. 17, win the American Conference Championship and reach the College Football Playoff. Sumrall is also regarded as a premier recruiter who has strong ties in the Southeast, foreshadowing dominance in the future.
With Sumrall taking over, Florida retained some of its most important players and gained portal pieces, as well. According to the East-West Shrine Bowl’s 2026 Watch List, which consists of the top 1,000 college football players, 14 are on Florida’s roster.
One of the key pieces for the Gators is wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr., who played for Auburn last season and joined Florida’s roster through the transfer portal. In addition, Florida retained star running back Jadan Baugh, who is expected to be a top prospect for the 2027 NFL Draft. Baugh recorded 1,170 rushing yards and eight touchdowns last season.
Florida also has a strong incoming defense with the stellar duo of linebacker Myles Graham and safety Bryce Thornton, who combined for 132 tackles, 10 pass breakups, three sacks and three tackles for loss last season.
The biggest debate regarding Florida’s football team is who will be named the starting quarterback.
Florida has both Tramell Jones Jr. and Aaron Philo on its roster, and although Philo is said to have the advantage at the starting job due to him following the offensive coordinator’s footsteps to Florida, he has never started a full season at quarterback. Jones, on the other hand, played last season as a true freshman in a game against Long Island, when he threw for 131 yards and two touchdowns. It is still uncertain what Florida will choose to do.
A win would be extremely meaningful for Auburn given that the Tigers’ most recent win against the Gators was in 2011, when Auburn won 17-6 on its home turf. The last time Auburn faced Florida was in 2019 in Gainesville, Florida, when it lost 24-13. With a chance to beat Florida for the first time in 15 years, Auburn will look to win strongly and build momentum for the rest of its SEC matchups.
As it will be both teams’ first conference game of the season, Auburn and Florida will enter this matchup with hopes of beginning a new era for their football programs. With both programs under new leadership and new quarterbacks leading the way, they will enter this matchup determined to earn a win in an SEC showdown that has not taken place since the pre-COVID era.
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Lila is a freshman majoring in journalism sports production. She started with The Plainsman in the fall of 2025.
