SEC Media Days is less than 48 hours away, meaning the 2025 college football season is fast approaching.

The four-day event in Atlanta acts as the orientation session before the figurative first day of school for college football teams and the reporters that cover them.

It’s a chance for coaches to preview their teams, players to get exposure and media members to ramp up the chatter before the season starts. Each team is represented by three players and the head coach, as Jackson Arnold, Keldric Faulk and Connor Lew will join Hugh Freeze to represent Auburn.

Here are three things to watch when Auburn takes the stage on Tuesday.

How will Hugh Freeze address recruiting concerns?

The story of the summer regarding Auburn football hasn’t been a positive one. The Tigers suffered a recruiting dry spell hat included four decommitments and the 2026 class now ranking 78th in the country, according to 247Sports.

Freeze has talked about the recruiting issues with local media and most recently on David Pollack’s “See Ball Get Ball” podcast, but there will be more eyes on him next week than before.

No statement he can recite at media days will magically fix the class, though. As the season gets ready to begin, Freeze needs both results on the field and a few big wins on the recruiting trail to quiet the recent criticism.

More eyes on Jackson Arnold

Arnold, a transfer quarterback from Oklahoma, may be the key to whether or not Auburn can get back to winning ways in 2025.

After a frustrating season in Norman last year, he’ll represent Auburn at media days as the Tigers’ starting quarterback and a team leader. He attended the event in 2024 with Oklahoma, but the circumstances are much different this time around.

He won’t win any games, complete any passes or run for any touchdowns next Tuesday, but out of the three Auburn players at the event, he’ll get the most attention.

Where will the media pick Auburn?

At the end of SEC Media Days each year, the media in attendance votes on the predicted order of finish and the All-SEC teams. Auburn will be a team to watch when the predicted order of finish is released.

The Tigers haven’t been relevant in SEC Championship contention in years, having not won more than three SEC games since 2020, a season in which only conference games were played. Despite the rough stretch, Auburn has arguably its most talented roster since then.

Championships aren’t won in July, and championship contention may still be unrealistic for Auburn in 2025, but it will be interesting to see how the media assesses Auburn compared to the rest of the conference.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m