The Southeastern Conference announced last December that each team will play eight conference football games with at least one required opponent from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12 or major independent.

Auburn football will open the 2025 season at Baylor, and this will be Auburn coach Hugh Freeze first time coaching a game in Waco, Texas.

“They are a good football team to face on the opening Friday night of the season and a national tv audience is always exciting. It will be a good challenge for us,” Freeze said at Jimmy Rane’s annual charity banquet last week.

Auburn will host Ball State and South Alabama before facing seven straight conference opponents. The Tigers last out of conference game will be against Mercer, a week before the Iron Bowl.

The top two teams in the league standings based on winning percentage will play in the SEC Championship Game.

Freeze shared his thoughts on the Tigers slate of game this year and offered ideas on how to decide team’s postseason fate.

“I honestly don’t care,” Freeze said. “The only thing that I think is necessary for media, administrators and fans is the reeducation of where teams truly are in the conference.”

“The days of teams running the gauntlet two and three years in a row of 12-0 seasons — I think those days are in the past.”

Freeze believes the committee should model its structure similar to how the NFL does it when it comes to deciding programs for the 12-team CFP bracket.

“We need to adapt more of the NFL mindset. Heck, NFL teams lose six games and go to the playoffs they’ll have a shot at the Super Bowl,” Freeze added.

“Truthfully, An SEC team that ends up 8-4 or 9-3 — if you have a realistic shot at a playoff berth you might be playing your best football by then.”

Here’s what Freeze proposed:

“Take our top eight teams and forget the conference championship games,” Freeze said. “Play us against the top eight in the Big Ten or other conferences for a spot in the playoffs. TV would love that and now you’ll give fans real hope.”

Freeze’s first Tigers team finished 6-7 and last year’s team ended 5-7, missing a bowl game. With the pressures of conducting Auburn’s first winning season since 2020, Freeze does not want a playoff bid to discredit the success of a turnaround season.

“Right now, if you’re Auburn and you’re not going to the playoffs, it’s a lot of people saying it’s not the best season. So, we got to do something like the NFL because you go 8-4 in this league playing nine games especially you deserve a shot to be in.”

Jerry Humphrey III covers Auburn sports forAL.com. You can follow him on X at @Jerryhump3or email him at [email protected].