If there were ever a way to ease into the college football season, Auburn is doing it.

When first-year head coach Hugh Freeze and the Tigers take Pat Dye Field at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Sept. 2, they’ll be looking at the worst team in the Football Bowl Subdivision across from them.

The Athletic’s Chris Vannini, as well as Athlon Sports and CBS Sports all ranked the UMass Minutemen No. 133 — or dead last — in their FBS rankings.

In 2022, UMass finished 1-11 with its lone win coming against FCS opponent Stony Brook in a 20-3 win. UMass hasn’t finished a year with more than one win since the 2018 season, when it went 4-8.

The Minutemen tallied losses against Tulane, Toledo, Temple, Eastern Michigan, Liberty, Buffalo, New Mexico State, UConn, Arkansas State, Texas A&M and Army last fall and were outscored 373-150 through the course of the season.

Despite the struggles, Athlon Sports’ Steven Lassan anticipates improvement from Don Brown’s UMass team, which allowed opponents to score 31.1 points per game in 2022 — a step up from 43.1 points per game in 2021.

“With another offseason to learn under Brown and a handful of additions from the portal, UMass’ defense should take another step forward this fall,” Lassan wrote. “However, for the Minutemen to climb the rankings and exceed last year’s one win, the offense must show marked improvement. This unit averaged only 12.5 points a contest and four yards a play in ‘22.”

While Auburn’s Week 1 opponent ranks dead last in the rankings, the Tigers come in at No. 47 in Vannini’s list, No. 34 in Lassan’s list and No. 38 in CBS Sports’ rankings.

Though Auburn’s Week 1 matchup won’t serve as a good measuring stick considering UMass doesn’t present itself as the strongest competition, it will be a good opportunity for the Tigers to knock some of the dust off — which could be more important considering some of the injuries Auburn is dealing with heading into Week 1.