Alabama 6-2, Auburn 4-3: Iron Bowl Path After Oct. 24

Oct. 24 split the road to the Iron Bowl. Eighteenth-ranked LSU beat Auburn 38-17 at Jordan-Hare Stadium, and 13th-ranked Alabama beat Texas A&M 31-20 at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Auburn is 4-3 overall and 2-3 in SEC play. Alabama is 6-2 and 4-2. They still meet on Nov. 28 in Tuscaloosa, and the kickoff is still unassigned.

Auburn's loss, and the wins still required

A week after beating Georgia 27-24 in Athens, Auburn trailed 31-10 at halftime against LSU. Sam Leavitt completed 32 of 45 passes for 387 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, then added 54 rushing yards and a 4-yard touchdown. Byrum Brown's 1-yard run cut the lead to 17-10 in the second quarter. LSU answered before halftime, and the final was 38-17. Auburn's recap lists the Tigers at 4-3, 2-3 in the SEC, and sends them to Oxford next.

Four wins leave Auburn two short of six, the standard bowl-eligibility total. Five regular-season games remain, so two more victories still get the Tigers there. The list is at Ole Miss on Oct. 31, Arkansas at Jordan-Hare on Nov. 7, at Mississippi State on Nov. 14, Samford on Nov. 21, and Alabama on Nov. 28. Ole Miss is 5-2 and 3-2 in SEC play. Mississippi State is 4-3 and 2-3, the same conference record Auburn carries into that trip. Arkansas is 3-4 and 1-3. Samford is the nonconference home date, set for 2:30 p.m. CT. The Iron Bowl is the last of the five, on the road, against a 6-2 opponent.

That is a different November problem from the one Auburn carried out of Athens. The Georgia win showed the Tigers could beat a first-place contender on the road. The LSU loss showed a conference offense putting up 31 points before halftime in Auburn's own stadium. Bowl eligibility can still be settled before Nov. 28. It can also arrive in Tuscaloosa still unfinished, with Alabama's home crowd and a six-game series run waiting.

Auburn's last win at Bryant-Denny Stadium was the 2010 Iron Bowl, 28-27. Alabama has won the six meetings since, including a 28-14 win in Tuscaloosa in 2024 and a 27-20 win at Jordan-Hare Stadium in 2025. The 2026 game does not inherit that score. It does inherit the site, and Auburn has not won there in the years since Cam Newton's comeback.

Alabama's win, and the LSU trip in front of it

Alabama entered Oct. 24 off losses to Georgia and Tennessee. Keelon Russell completed 19 of 30 passes for 311 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Rico Scott caught six passes for 156 yards. Texas A&M led 20-17 in the second half. Alabama scored the game's final 14 points, all in the fourth quarter, and won 31-20 in a sold-out stadium. The Crimson Tide is 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the SEC. Texas A&M fell to 4-4, 1-4.

The result moves Alabama to 4-2 in SEC play and ends the two-game skid. It does not clear the November calendar. Alabama's next game is Nov. 7 at LSU, the same LSU team that just won 38-17 at Auburn. Both athletic departments list that game at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, with kickoff still in the Flex window. LSU is 6-2 overall and 3-2 in SEC play, one conference win behind Alabama's 4-2.

The record math from that Saturday is straightforward. A loss in Baton Rouge would drop Alabama to 6-3, 4-3 in the SEC, with Vanderbilt, Chattanooga and Auburn still ahead. A win would move Alabama to 7-2, 5-2, with the same three games left and the Iron Bowl still at home. Vanderbilt is Nov. 14 in the early window. Chattanooga is Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. CT on SEC Network+. Auburn is Nov. 28.

On the current records, Alabama holds the stronger Iron Bowl position: 6-2, the home site, and six straight wins in the series. That position runs through Baton Rouge first. LSU has already played one of the two rivals, and it won by 21 in Auburn. Alabama's defense will see that offense before it sees Auburn's.

Where both teams sit in the SEC

The SEC's official standings after Oct. 24, matched by the NCAA.com table published Oct. 25, put Kentucky first at 7-1, 5-1 in conference play, and Georgia second at 6-1, 4-1. Alabama is next, at 6-2, 4-2. LSU, Tennessee, Florida and Ole Miss are all 3-2 in league play. Auburn shares the 2-3 conference line with Mississippi State and South Carolina.

Team	SEC	Overall	Why it meets the Iron Bowl path
Kentucky	5-1	7-1	Leads the league. Alabama and Auburn are both behind.
Georgia	4-1	6-1	Auburn's Oct. 17 opponent. Still ahead of Alabama in the SEC race.
Alabama	4-2	6-2	Hosts the Iron Bowl. Plays at LSU on Nov. 7.
LSU	3-2	6-2	Beat Auburn 38-17. Hosts Alabama next.
Ole Miss	3-2	5-2	Auburn's next opponent, Oct. 31 in Oxford.
Mississippi State	2-3	4-3	Auburn visits on Nov. 14.
Auburn	2-3	4-3	Needs two wins in five games to reach six.
Arkansas	1-3	3-4	Visits Jordan-Hare on Nov. 7, the day Alabama is at LSU.

Alabama's Oct. 24 win moved the Tide to 4-2 in a league Kentucky leads. The Iron Bowl is not an SEC championship game on the current table. It is a home game for a 4-2 team against a 2-3 team, with both records still able to change on Nov. 7, when Alabama is in Baton Rouge and Auburn hosts Arkansas.

The games between Oct. 24 and Nov. 28

Date	Alabama	Auburn
Oct. 31	Open	at Ole Miss, 11:45 a.m. CT
Nov. 7	at LSU, Flex	Arkansas, early window
Nov. 14	at Vanderbilt, early window	at Mississippi State, early window
Nov. 21	Chattanooga, 1 p.m. CT	Samford, 2:30 p.m. CT
Nov. 28	Auburn, Flex, Tuscaloosa	at Alabama, Flex

Alabama's schedule page defines the early window as 11 a.m. to noon CT and Flex as 2:30-3:30 or 5-7 p.m. CT. The Iron Bowl kickoff is still inside that Flex label. Alabama's 2026 fan guide lists the specific slots as 2:30 or 6:30 p.m. CT, to be assigned six to twelve days before the game. The network is still unannounced. Auburn's schedule lists the same Nov. 28 game at Bryant-Denny Stadium and the same Flex designation.

The useful November question is no longer whether Auburn can follow a Georgia upset with another one, or whether Alabama can answer two losses. Oct. 24 answered both. Auburn has to collect two wins from a five-game finish that includes the Iron Bowl. Alabama has to take a 6-2 record through LSU before it hosts a rival that last won in Tuscaloosa in 2010.

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