Another excellent regular season behind him, Bruce Pearl now faces perhaps the toughest test of his storied career ...
No. 23 Auburn will open up SEC play against No. 13 Vanderbilt without All-American Ike Irish.
Auburn won the two matchups against Ole Miss in the regular season.
Three-star QB Champ Smith visited Auburn last week and plans to return later this month.
Auburn needs Chaney Johnson to break out of his slump to make a deep postseason run.
