Sweet music: Computer simulator predicts Auburn to defeat Maryland

—

December 27, 2023

The Auburn Tigers will take on the Maryland Terrapins in the Music City Bowl in Nashville on Saturday afternoon and, according to an NCAA Game Simulator, the Tigers should come out on top.

In 641 computer simulations, the Tigers defeated the Terps 374 times, or in 58.3% of the matchups. In 104 of those simulations, Auburn won the game by 20 or more points, while in Maryland’s 267 wins, just 37 were by 20 or more.

“Excited to see how they perform.”@AuburnFootball practiced Wednesday afternoon in Nashville at Vanderbilt.

Tigers play Maryland Saturday in @MusicCityBowl @CoachHughFreeze talks to reporters before practice ⤵️#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/FW91RAbnF6

— Jeff Shearer (@jeff_shearer) December 27, 2023

Last week, it was reported that Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, brother of Tua and the all-time Big-10 passing leader, would be opting out the bowl game, which has undoubtedly affected both the Vegas spread as well as the computer simulations.

Tagovailoa will be replaced by redshirt sophomore Billy Edwards, who only attempted 10 passes this season.

For Auburn, it appears Payton Thorne will take all the snaps after Robby Ashford entered his name into the transfer portal. Head Coach Hugh Freeze has yet to bring in another quarterback for next year and, as of now, Thorne looks poised to remain at No. 1 on the depth chart.

Kickoff is 1 p.m. Saturday; it will be carried on ESPN.

Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP