Alabama-Auburn
Saturday, Nov. 29
7:30 p.m. Eastern, 4:30 p.m. Pacific
ABC
Alabama-Auburn, the Iron Bowl, is as nasty as any college football rivalry around. It’s such an intensely personal SEC football feud that losing this game can override other achievements from a coach. If the Alabama head coach is winning national titles, an occasional loss to Auburn can be forgiven. However, if a coach at Alabama loses to Auburn and is not regularly competing for national titles, he goes on the hot seat. This is what it is like for Kalen DeBoer going into this game on Saturday night in Auburn.
Alabama-Auburn is a moment of truth for Kalen DeBoer
Crimson Tide have to find a way to win on the road
The Kalen DeBoer story at Alabama has undergone a lot of twists and turns in 2025. DeBoer seemed to be a dead coach walking after the Week 1 loss to a Florida State team which turned out to be not very good. Then DeBoer righted the ship, won at Georgia, hammered Tennessee, and put Alabama in position to make the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff. Everything seemed fine. Then Alabama stubbed its toe and lost at home to Oklahoma to give the Tide their second loss of the season. Now we arrive at the Auburn game. The difference between 10-2 and 9-3 is much more than one game. It’s the difference between making the College Football Playoff and not.
Nick Saban occasionally lost to Auburn, but those losses often did not prevent Alabama from making the playoff. For Kalen DeBoer, beating Auburn is a necessity for getting to the playoff, so if he loses this game, not only does he fail to win the one game Alabama fans care about most; he misses the playoff and falls short of the expected Alabama standard. Going 0 for 2 in making the playoff and not beating a very weak Auburn team led by an interim coaching staff would be an absolute disaster. It wouldn’t get DeBoer fired immediately, but it would mean he would enter the 2026 college football season on the hot seat, needing to keep his job for 2027. It would be playoff or pink slip for DeBoer in 2026 if he loses this game to Auburn. It’s a hugely important game for his tenure in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama Crimson Tide-Auburn Tigers Odds
Hear TJ Rives and Jason Powers break down this game on the 3Dog Thursday Podcast by clicking Play below:
Spread: Alabama -5.5 (-110), Auburn +5.5 (-110)
Total: 46.5 (Over -110, Under -110)
Underdog moneyline: Auburn +185
The Auburn offense has come alive since head coach Hugh Freeze was fired. The interim coaching staff has found a way to make the offense work. Alabama has to find a way to keep the Auburn offense under wraps. If Auburn gets out to an early 7-0 or 10-0 lead, the game could snowball on Alabama and get away from the Tide. This is a very tricky game to bet on. Alabama badly needs it, but the Tide have not looked very convincing in recent weeks. Auburn is at home playing with nothing to lose. This game feels like an event made for a live in-game bet based on a good feel for in-game trends. It could be a game where a fourth-quarter live bet makes the most sense, because it involves fewer variables and overall snaps.