Get ready for a Tiger vs. Tiger showdown in the 2015 Birmingham Bowl. The Auburn Tigers had aspirations of playing on New Year’s Eve before the start of the season, but will instead be playing a day early as they turned out to be one of the most disappointing teams in the country.
The Memphis Tigers had the much more impressive season, with big-time NFL prospect Paxton Lynch leading the way. Can they cap off an excellent year with a second win against SEC opposition?
Get a complete breakdown of this all-Tiger battle in Birmingham with our preview below. Also, don’t forget to check out previews of the Belk Bowl (NC State vs. Mississippi State) and the Holiday Bowl (USC vs. Wisconsin).
[sc:NCAAFArticles ]Auburn Tigers vs. Memphis Tigers Preview
Where: Legion Field, Birmingham
When: Wednesday, December 30, 2:00 PM ET
Line: Auburn Tigers (-2.5) vs. Memphis Tigers (+2.5); total 62.5 – view all NCAA Football lines
TV Broadcast: CBS
Betting on the Auburn Tigers (6-6, 2-6 SEC)
To say Auburn fell short of expectations would be an understatement. The Tigers were being touted as a possible playoff team during the preseason, but subpar quarterback play and equally disastrous defense saw them crash to 2-6 in the SEC and dead last in the West Division.
[sc:NCAA240banner ]Junior quarterback Jeremy Johnson was benched for redshirt freshman Sean White earlier in the season, but has since regained his starting spot after White injured his knee. Johnson led the team to wins over Texas A&M and Idaho, but struggled in losses against the tougher defenses of Georgia and Alabama.
The Tigers went just 1-3 ATS in those four games, and are just 2-9-1 ATS on the season.
Even with White inching closer to a return, it remains to be seen if head coach Gus Malzahn will indeed turn to him over Johnson. Regardless of who starts, though, the bigger part of Auburn’s offense will be the running game, which perked up near the end of the season. The Tigers averaged 228 rushing yards and scored seven touchdowns over the last four games.
Auburn should be able to find some success on the ground against a Memphis team that has struggled to defend the run this season, which has led to its downfall in its three losses. Memphis gave up well over 200 yards rushing in its losses to Navy, Houston and Temple.
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Betting on the Memphis Tigers (9-3, 5-3 AAC)
Memphis made a lot of waves this season as it emerged as one of the most potent offenses in the country. Behind the brilliance of quarterback Paxton Lynch, the Tigers averaged 42.7 points per game, good for seventh in the nation.
The Tigers were well in contention for a possible AAC championship until a three-game losing skid to Navy, Houston and Temple ended any chance of them making it to the conference title game.
Their head coach, Justin Fuente, won’t be on the sidelines for their bowl game after he accepted the head coaching job at Virginia Tech. Lynch will also most likely be playing his last game for the school before heading to the NFL, but he’ll have one more game to further impress pro scouts.
The junior, who threw for 3,670 yards with 28 touchdowns and just three interceptions, was simply sensational this season, and had perhaps his best game of the year against SEC competition. He completed 73.6 percent of his passes for 384 yards and three touchdowns in Memphis’s 37-24 win over Ole Miss in October.
It isn’t too much of a stretch to see Lynch match or even surpass that performance against a subpar Auburn defense that will be without defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, who left for South Carolina.
Writer’s Prediction
Memphis (+2.5) makes enough plays on offense to come away with a 38-35 win over Auburn.
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