Before Auburn even knew what bowl game it would be playing in, head coach Hugh Freeze – having been through a bowl game or seven in his coaching career – already had a rough sketch of his practice plan mapped out in his head.

The goal was to have five or six practices at Auburn before breaking for the holidays, followed by three practices at the bowl site.

In addition to having those plans penciled in, Freeze also knew he’d want to treat Auburn’s bowl game practices a bit different than what he might’ve during the regular season.

Unlike the regular season, Freeze isn’t looking for the Tigers to be practicing with the throttle wide open as they prepare for their date with the Maryland Terrapins in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl on Saturday afternoon.

“I’m not one that grinds them during the bowl. I’m really not,” Freeze said back on Nov. 27. “I want them to enjoy the journey and the process.”

However, such a stance isn’t to be confused with Freeze not expecting the Tigers to take care of business when the lights come on and the first whistle blows.

“It’s important to me. I think they sense that,” Freeze said Wednesday afternoon. I do think there’s a balance. We’ve been pretty successful in bowl games I coached in. That balance has worked.”

To Freeze’s point, he’s 6-1 in bowl games as head coach heading into Saturday.

This time around, however, Freeze will be faced with a challenge that might be familiar to other coaches around the sport, but it’s unfamiliar to him.

“I have never had the opt-outs and have never dealt with that before. That was kind of new,” Freeze said.

Freeze announced Dec. 16 that he expected defensive backs DJ James and Nehemiah Pritchett, as well as defensive lineman Marcus Harris to opt out of the Music City Bowl as the trio turns their attention to the 2024 NFL Draft.

“Obviously we’ve got to play some young kids in the secondary with ours moving on to the NFL and other things,” Freeze said.

It’s expected that Auburn’s young defensive backs in Kayin Lee, Colton Hood, JC Hart and Terrance Love all see significant playing time in Saturday’s game.

Not to mention, Auburn has also seen a handful of players hit the transfer portal.

As of Wednesday, 12 players who were on the Tigers’ regular season roster have entered their names into the transfer portal – a number that could swell after Saturday’s game.

Auburn’s wide receiver room has been hit the hardest by the portal as four receivers have already announced their intentions to transfer, and therefore won’t play in Saturday’s game against Maryland.

“You’re not quite the same team that finished the year personnel-wise,” Freeze said. “In some ways that’s kind of exciting for kicking off the next year.”

But that’s just another part of the balancing act Freeze and the Tigers are having to perform this week.

After an impressive haul of signees during the early signing period, it becomes easy to get excited about the future and look past Saturday’s dance with the Terrapins.

“It’s hard to balance. You have that time off and obviously with the portal opening up and the high school guys having signing day, you’re recruiting. And us players, we’re trying to do our part and help out,” said Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne. “So it’s weird, because you’re looking so much to next season and talking about next season. You know, we still have to finish off this season.”

In an era of college football where the value of bowl games seems to be getting watered down – as evident by the growing number of opt-outs – sometimes Thorne’s point about finishing off the season is forgotten about, which can lead to teams falling on their face in the postseason and dropping a game they maybe should’ve won.

In the case of Auburn, a win against Maryland will help it finish with a winning season for the first time in three years.

A loss to the Terrapins will mean the Tigers will have finished with a record below .500 for the third time in three years – a streak that hasn’t been seen since the three years that stretched between 1975-77.

So while some might look at Auburn’s matchup with Maryland as a moot meeting between a pair of 6-6 football teams, there’s plenty on the line for the Tigers — whether it be maintaining momentum after a successful signing period, putting young guys in position to gain experience or simply avoiding a losing record.

But perhaps above all, the Tigers have the privilege of playing a 13th game this season — something Auburn missed out on in 2022.

“I think anytime we put Auburn on our jersey it’s important that we go compete,” Freeze said. “I hope we can finish this ‘23 campaign with that kind of effort and execution and get a win for Auburn, for our team, for our fans, for the SEC, everything that goes into these bowl games.