The Auburn Tigers are entering the third season of the Hugh Freeze era and are hoping to turn things around after the first two under the head coach didn’t meet expectations.

Last season was a disaster, and Freeze’s feet were held to the fire coming off a 5-7 season in which his team did not even qualify for a bowl game.

Two full recruiting classes in and seemingly with the quarterback personnel issues now solved, Freeze knows there is an incredible amount of pressure on him going into the third season.

Perhaps he is not quite aware just how much however, telling the Next Round that he knows his team needs to get a bowl game, when in reality they need to do much more than that to satisfy fans:

“I’m not a fool. I think we’ve got to go to a bowl game.” – Hugh Freeze on the pressure to win going into his third season at Auburn pic.twitter.com/xrOcGuqzRM

— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) May 16, 2025

“I’m not a fool, I think we’ve got to go to a bowl game,” Freeze said. “Look, I inherited a program that didn’t have a top-25 recruiting class for four years, you’re not gonna win in this league [like that].”

Freeze needs to understand that headed into year three, just a bowl game is not likely to be satisfactory. Bowl eligibility begins at 6-6, and if Auburn goes 6-6, Freeze is going to be in some serious trouble.

For the sake of both him and the fans, the Tigers must do much more than just go to a bowl game.