When Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze’s head hit his pillow late Saturday night, it was probably followed by a sigh of relief and him saying something along the lines of, “Thank heavens that’s over with.”

Freeze’s players probably did the same.

The baptism-by-fire that was Auburn’s open to SEC play finally ended Saturday night.

It was a gauntlet-of-a-stretch for the Tigers, whose four-game losing skid continued Saturday night in a 28-21 loss now-12th-ranked Ole Miss.

“Obviously the last three weeks, I think we’ve lost games to the No. 1, 12 and 15th-ranked teams in the country,” Freeze said Monday.

After losing their SEC opener to Texas A&M in College Station, the Tigers were tasked with hosting the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, visiting the then-22nd-ranked LSU Tigers and then returning home to play the then-13th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels.

And in two of those games, Auburn found itself in a position to win, but couldn’t polish it off.

After losing to Georgia and Ole Miss in one possession ball games, Freeze admits that he and the Tigers feel tempted to look in the rearview mirror.

“Anytime you have a chance to beat a team that’s highly regarded, you certainly… you regret it and you look at everything that man, if we could have done this, if we could have done that,” Freeze said. “But, you know, I think it speaks volumes for how our kids are playing.”

Yes, effort aside, Auburn still went 0-4 to open its conference slate.

But Auburn offensive lineman Gunner Britton said it best after Saturday night’s loss.

“Tough stretch for any team,” Britton said.

In playing Texas A&M, Georgia, LSU and Ole Miss to open SEC play, Auburn’s first four conference opponents combine for a 13-4 SEC record.

Auburn’s next four opponents? They combine for a 6-12 record in league play.

But to take that one step further, if you remove the Tigers’ Iron Bowl opponent and ignore Alabama’s record, the remaining three conference opponents on Auburn’s schedule combine for a 1-12 record in SEC play.

All of this is said to emphasize the fact that the second half of Auburn’s conference slate is significantly more favorable than the first half, which is an important piece of perspective considering the Tigers’ recent skid.

Auburn hasn’t played in one conference matchup this season in which it didn’t bear the distinction of the “underdog” by the bookies in Las Vegas.

That changes Saturday as the Tigers welcome the Mississippi State Bulldogs to Jordan-Hare Stadium after Auburn opened as a 4.5-point favorite on Sunday, according to Caesar Sportsbooks.

Following Saturday’s game against Mississippi State (4-3, 1-3 SEC) awaits a visit to Vanderbilt (2-6, 0-4 SEC), followed by a trip to Arkansas (2-6, 0-5 SEC) before the Tigers return home for matchups against New Mexico State (5-3, 3-1 CUSA) and then Alabama (7-1, 5-0 SEC) in the Iron Bowl.

In that first four-game stretch, there appears to be four very winnable ball games for Auburn, which would bring the Tigers back to 7-4 (3-4 SEC) heading into the Iron Bowl – a game where anything is possible – on Nov. 25.

Freeze recognizes it’s been a rough stretch for Auburn fans – not only the through the last four weeks, but for quite some time now.

“I know that they’ve endured disappointing years and certainly are in the growing pains with us right now also,” Freeze said of the Auburn fanbase Monday.

And while Freeze certainly wishes he and the Tigers could’ve curbed some of the disappointment and growing pains by now, it just hasn’t happened that way.

Whether because of play calling, a questionable quarterback rotation, a depleted roster, injuries or a tough stretch of games — it just hasn’t happened.

But all hope isn’t lost on the 2023 season.

“We’ve got a lot of SEC games left. And Obviously every SEC game is hard to win… But the three — Georgia, LSU, and Ole Miss — I think are three top 10 offenses and all ranked,” Freeze said after Saturday night’s loss.

“So that was a pretty tough stretch and it’s disappointing we didn’t get a win out of one or two of those. But the rest of the games I’m excited for this team to fight and battle.”