Auburn hosts Arkansas as both first-year coaches chase a needed SEC win
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Auburn (4-4, 2-4 SEC) hosts Arkansas (3-5, 1-4 SEC) Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium, favored by 10.5.
Arkansas needs three wins in its last four games to reach a bowl.
Background
Auburn and Arkansas are SEC (Southeastern Conference) football programs meeting for the 35th consecutive season, a series Auburn leads 21-13-1 all-time. Both are led by first-year head coaches: Alex Golesh at Auburn and Ryan Silverfield at Arkansas, who won 50 games in six seasons at Memphis before taking over in Fayetteville. Auburn went 1-3 in October against four ranked opponents, including a 27-24 win at then-No. 1 Georgia, but enters this game on two straight losses by 21 or more points. Arkansas lost its most recent game, the Battle Line Rivalry, 34-10 to No. 19 Missouri.
How it unfolded
- Oct 25, 2025In the last meeting, Auburn beat Arkansas 33-24 in Fayetteville.
- Oct 17, 2026Arkansas won its conference game at Vanderbilt, the same day Auburn beat top-ranked Georgia 27-24.
- Oct 31, 2026Arkansas lost its Battle Line Rivalry game to No. 19 Missouri 34-10, and Auburn lost to Ole Miss 45-15.
- Nov 2, 2026BetMGM listed Auburn -425 / Arkansas +333 on the moneyline, Auburn -10.5 on the spread, with an over/under of 50 1/2.
- Nov 5, 2026BetMGM odds moved to Auburn -10, over/under 53.5, and moneyline Auburn -410 / Arkansas +320.
- Nov 6, 2026Auburn (4-4, 2-4 SEC) was set to host Arkansas (3-5, 1-4 SEC) on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 11:45 a.m. CT at Jordan-Hare Stadium on SEC Network.
- Nov 7, 2026Kickoff set for 12:45 p.m. ET on SEC Network, with Auburn favored by 10.5, moneyline -385, Arkansas +10.5 and +310, over/under 53.5.
Key terms
- SEC
- An annual preseason media event for the Southeastern Conference, a U.S. college athletic conference based in Birmingham, Alabama.
- moneyline
- A bet on which side will win an event, with odds fixed at the time the wager is placed.
- spread
- To win a spread bet by beating the point spread set for the game.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Auburn coach
- Alex Golesh said Arkansas is built on running the football and play action off it with a mobile quarterback who has gotten better every week, and that Auburn must establish the run and avoid third-and-longs.
- Arkansas coach
- Ryan Silverfield said of Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown that he does everything and is like having an extra coach on the field.
- Analysts
- Action Network picked Arkansas +10.5, expecting Auburn to win but not in a blowout.
- Predictions
- Jackson Fuller predicted Auburn 27, Arkansas 24; Taylor Jones predicted Auburn 30, Arkansas 20; Jacob Davis predicted Auburn 31, Arkansas 13.
Still unverified
Arkansas listed four key players as probable on the initial SEC Availability Report, but the source notes that may not mean they are likely to play given Ryan Silverfield's history this season; last week Braylen Russell and Jaden Platt were listed as probable and combined for one snap against Missouri.