I dug into the recruiting rankings of both starting lineups (22 vs 22), and the talent gap between Auburn and Baylor is massive. Are rankings always accurate? No Would you rather have 13/22 4 Stars or higher, or just 3, 4 Stars?

Auburn Offense vs Baylor Defense

• Auburn starts 2 five-stars, 7 four-stars, 2 three-stars
• Baylor counters with 0 five-stars, 2 four-stars, 9 three-stars

Baylor Offense vs Auburn Defense

• Baylor starts 0 five-stars, 1 four-star, 9 three-stars, 1 two-star
• Auburn counters with 0 five-stars, 4 four-stars, 7 three-stars

Totals across 22 starters

• Auburn: 2 five-stars, 11 four-stars, 9 three-stars
• Baylor: 0 five-stars, 3 four-stars, 18 three-stars, 1 two-star

That's the reality: Auburn's starting 22 has 2 five-stars and 11 four-stars, while Baylor has zero five-stars and just 3 four-stars total. The rosters aren't even in the same recruiting neighborhood.

Baylor Depth Chart

WR-X Ashtyn Hawkins - 3 Star
WR-Z Josh Cameron - 2 Star
WR-SL Kobe Prentice - 3 Star
LT - Sidney Fugar - 3 Star
LG - Ryan Lengyel - 3 Star
C - Coleton Price - 3 Star
RG - Omar Aigbedion - 3 Star
RT - Kaden Sieracki - 3 Star
TE - Michael Trigg - 3 Star
QB - Sawyer Robertson - 4 Star
RB - Bryson Washington - 3 Star

DE - Jackie Marshall - 3 Star
NT - Adonis Friloux - 3 Star
DT - Devonte Tezino - 3 Star
LOLB - Emar'rion Winston - 4 Star
LILB - Travion Barnes - 3 Star
ROLB - Matthew Fobbs-White - 3 Star
LCB - Caden Jenkins - 3 Star
SS - DJ Coleman - 3 Star
FS - Devyn Bobby - 3 Star
RCB - Tevin Williams - 4 Star
NB - Carl Williams - 3 Star


Auburn Depth Chart

WR-X - Cam Coleman - 5 Star
WR-Z - Eric Singleton - 4 Star
WR-H - Horatio Fields - 4 Star
LT - Xavier Chaplin - 4 Star
LG - Dillon Wade - 4 Star
C - Connor Lew - 4 Star
RG - Jeremiah Wright - 3 Star
RT - Mason Murphy - 4 Star
TE - Brandon Frazier - 4 Star
QB - Jackson Arnold - 5 Star
RB - Damari Alston - 3 Star

DE - Kendric Faulk - 4 Star
NT - Bobby Jamison-Travis - 3 Star
DT - Malik Blocton - 3 Star
BUCK - Keyron Crawford - 3 Star
WLB - Demarcus Riddick - 4 Star
MLB - Robert Woodyard - 4 Star
LCB - Kaylin Lee - 4 Star
SS - Kaleb Harris - 3 Star
FS - Kensley Louidor-Faustin - 3 Star
RCB - Jay Crawford - 3 Star
NB - Sylvester Smith - 4 Star

What was the gap in talent when NMSU butt ****ed Auburn?
None of these things matter. And you of all people should know this. After all your team hasn't had a winning record in half a decade.
Fyi you don't even have Baylor's best defensive player listed as a starter. Go back to the Auburn boards and blow smoke up your own fanbases ass.

Stars = potential, not proven talent. I'll take the Bears. BU was 2-3 against the SEC's #1ranked UT over the last five years they played, and I bet UT had more stars on the roster than Auburn.

It's just going to be that much more embarrassing for all of the Auburn fans after we kick your butts and embarrass the Tigers on national TV! It never hurts to have the better Coach and staff!

oh hey it's the guy that just figured out ChatGPT!

I'm leaning more and more to a bot.

No straight male uses this sentence structure.

Stefano DiMera said:

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I'm leaning more and more to a bot.

No straight male uses this sentence structure.

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it's ChatGPT. If I was a professor grading a student's work, this would immediately be given a zero. Maybe this passes for great work at the fine academic institution known as Auburn, but I consider it low effort slop

The reddestraider guy that posted here last year was more entertaining and talked better trash. I liked hearing about his Ford raptor and about how his boss took many luxurious vacations

monsterbear61 said:

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Stars = potential, not proven talent. I'll take the Bears. BU was 2-3 against the SEC's #1ranked UT over the last five years they played, and I bet UT had more stars on the roster than Auburn.

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Stars = predictive likelihood of being drafted into the NFL compared to their class peers

Of course this information isn't irrelevant, but it's a weak indicator of relative team strength in this instance. In part because the rating services are going to give the same player a higher rating to go to Auburn than to go to Baylor. That's just how it works --- I'm sure Grayson can confirm.

Also, there's a reason projections and betting markets care so much about returning production. Experience is irreplaceable in college football, and you would rather have an experienced 3* over an inexperienced 4* most, but not all, of the time.

There's no question Auburn has a lot of talented dudes and future potential NFL guys. Many of them were probably much more ready than our guys the day they stepped on campus, and if we were playing our 18 year olds versus their 18 year olds we would be in big trouble. But we're rolling out their some full grown men on both sides of the ball.

Josh Cameron is the perfect example of someone whose value today has no relationship with his recruiting ranking. KT another, and our roster is filled with guys like that.

LSU was a very similar team in terms of recruiting, and the film is there for everyone to see how we matched up physically. I expect similar basic dynamics on August 29.

I grew up as an Auburn fan and my wife as an Alabama fan. We're Bears now. You're making it hard on us...you're so embarrassing.

BamaPU said:

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That's the reality: Auburn's starting 22 has 2 five-stars and 11 four-stars, while Baylor has zero five-stars and just 3 four-stars total. The rosters aren't even in the same recruiting neighborhood.

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According to you Auburn is on "their worst 4 year run in program history" so I'm guessing these rankings mean Jack Squat.

Now, compare Auburn's recruiting rankings last season, player by player, versus Vanderbilt and California and then let us know how that worked out for you guys.

i'm guessing that you have hung up a banner for all the alabama nattys, too? What this shows is that Baylor does more with less. Which means that Baylor coaches are actually better.. Wasnt auburn 5-7 last year? how exactly did the stars behind a players name help you out? The number of stars doesnt mean wins. this is one of the wildest takes i've ever seen... its hollow and frankly just dumb. Go back to your trailer park, my guy

Baylor fans have long been in denial about what recruiting rankings mean. In order to have sustained, championship-level success, you have to recruit at a high level. STARS MATTER. Now, that does not mean that you cannot hit development cycles properly and have a great season every 3-4 years (which we have seen happen at Baylor under Rhule and Aranda, meh recruiting - much on par with our history, but recruited some stud kids who by their junior/senior year develop into All-Americans).

However, the flip side of that is you can also have a staff that recruits great but does such a poor job of development or roster building that it never turns into success. But, from a predictive standpoint, recruiting rankings is really one of the best measures.

That said, I am counting on a mix of Auburn's instability and Baylor turning the corner into the upswing of our development cycle and this being a close game/Baylor win. But your point is understood and in MOST instances, recruiting rankings can be a great predictor for success from the 10,000 foot view.

There's a lot of really good players in the NFL that weren't 4 or 5 stars

But there are even more players in the NFL that were 4 and 5 stars.

Anyone curious about how the stars work, what they actually mean, and why they can be useful predictors: https://lastwordonsports.com/collegefootball/2021/07/12/what-do-those-star-ratings-mean/

The Athletic just came out with its rankings: Baylor #28 … Auburn #30

Greenboy232 said:

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The Athletic just came out with its rankings: Baylor #28 … Auburn #30

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BamaPU: (opens ChatGPT) " please list a breakdown of why the athletic rankings are wrong and Auburn is better. include references to recruiting and how much money our coaches make". (copies and pastes to sicem365)

Freeze said tonight on Tiger Talk all three QBs could play at Baylor. https://t.co/yXQwk5vb4F

— Justin Hokanson (@_JHokanson) August 18, 2025

He's gonna be so confused when that 2 star receiver is blowing past his 4 star defensive players.

IowaBear said:

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What was the gap in talent when NMSU butt ****ed Auburn?
None of these things matter. And you of all people should know this. After all your team hasn't had a winning record in half a decade.
Fyi you don't even have Baylor's best defensive player listed as a starter. Go back to the Auburn boards and blow smoke up your own fanbases ass.

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Recruiting rankings don't matter? That's a ridiculous thing to say. I guess you'll find out 1 week from Friday. Don't say I didn't warn you. What type of metrics would you prefer me to post instead?

I used our lads for Baylor's depth chart. The starting lineup depends on which type of defense you're in.

Auburn's hasn't had a winning record in four years and our loss to New Mexico State. Y'all never defend yourself, you just attack. Classless fan base. I've been nothing but respectful

I haven't called anyone names. Go back and look at every response I've gotten from Baylor fans. Nobody said anything about your own team. You just trash us.

JustWinBears said:

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He's gonna be so confused when that 2 star receiver is blowing past his 4 star defensive players.

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JustWinBears said:

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He's gonna be so confused when that 2 star receiver is blowing past his 4 star defensive players.

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Confused? I'm confused as to what I'd be confused about. If your. two star receiver blows past our four star D-backs, more power to you..

What about our four and five star wide receivers vs. your 3 star D backs? Could be a long day. Y'all can hit me if you want to.

I'm trying to have a friendly conversation and provide metrics, and you guys bring up Auburn's loss to New Mexico State from
two years ago, the same year BAYLOR LOST TO Texas state.

Please go ahead and post your own metrics. We all know why you don't; cause you can't find any that cast you in a positive light

I never said recruiting ranking don't matter. They don't matter in the context your using them though. If you think Josh Cameron plays at a "2" star level than you're in for an eye opener.
Your trump card is "Auburns players are ranked higher" therefore Auburn blows Baylor out. That logic is ******ed especially from a person whose team has sucked dick for half a decade. If stars mattered as much as you Vandy and nMSU wouldn't have beat your ass.
You're NOT trying to have a friendly conversation. Your 16 year old self is trying to blow smoke up asses.
Clueless? The gap in intelligence between you and I is hilariously large. Your knowledge is 3rd grade considering you cant look past anything other than recruiting rankings. I'm not even sure why I'm arguing with a kid still sucking on mommas teet after school.

Ewalker80 said:

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Of course this information isn't irrelevant, but it's a weak indicator of relative team strength in this instance. In part because the rating services are going to give the same player a higher rating to go to Auburn than to go to Baylor. That's just how it works --- I'm sure Grayson can confirm.

Also, there's a reason projections and betting markets care so much about returning production. Experience is irreplaceable in college football, and you would rather have an experienced 3* over an inexperienced 4* most, but not all, of the time.

There's no question Auburn has a lot of talented dudes and future potential NFL guys. Many of them were probably much more ready than our guys the day they stepped on campus, and if we were playing our 18 year olds versus their 18 year olds we would be in big trouble. But we're rolling out their some full grown men on both sides of the ball.

Josh Cameron is the perfect example of someone whose value today has no relationship with his recruiting ranking. KT another, and our roster is filled with guys like that.

LSU was a very similar team in terms of recruiting, and the film is there for everyone to see how we matched up physically. I expect similar basic dynamics on August 29.

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Thank you Ewalker80! Was it really that hard for a Baylor fan to post something's that's helpful and not venomous? 1st one I've seen. Instead of trashing Auburn, you actually make a case on Baylor's behalf. Baylor needs more people like you! I'm really happy about Baylor's confidence going into this game. You don't know what's about to hit you.

Our entire starting O-Line returns, and we added the #1 LT in the portal from VA-Tech. Also, our starting RT came from USC with 2 years of experience. So we have two players on our bench with starting experience.

Last season we had to move our starting LG out to LT, 5 games into the season, because the LT we got from Mississippi State in the off season, didn't know who to block. But since we brought that left tackle in from Virginia Tech, our left guard can slide back into his natural position.

guadalupeoso said:

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Baylor fans have long been in denial about what recruiting rankings mean. In order to have sustained, championship-level success, you have to recruit at a high level. STARS MATTER. Now, that does not mean that you cannot hit development cycles properly and have a great season every 3-4 years (which we have seen happen at Baylor under Rhule and Aranda, meh recruiting - much on par with our history, but recruited some stud kids who by their junior/senior year develop into All-Americans).

However, the flip side of that is you can also have a staff that recruits great but does such a poor job of development or roster building that it never turns into success. But, from a predictive standpoint, recruiting rankings is really one of the best measures.

That said, I am counting on a mix of Auburn's instability and Baylor turning the corner into the upswing of our development cycle and this being a close game/Baylor win. But your point is understood and in MOST instances, recruiting rankings can be a great predictor for success from the 10,000 foot view.

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Wow guadalupeoso - Your post is the 2nd post I've seen that's clearly written by someone that respects themselves. Thank you! I hope your good character rubs off on your peers.

The instability @ Auburn is way over blown by the media. Most of it is likely caused by Bama fans masquerading as Auburn fans. That's their full-time job.

On offense we return a lot of players who have multiple years of starting experience. Jackson Arnold is probably the least experienced player on our offense. But the QB is most important.

Our defensive backfield is experienced too. We had to replace much of our front seven. So we got the starting MLB from Maryland (Caleb Whearland) to transfer to Auburn, and we have DE Keldric Faulk, who will be a 1st round draft pick next NFL draft. Our other DE is Chris Murray, who transferred from Sam Houston State who started at TCU. Chris MURRAY had 5.5 sacks last year @ Sam Houston State. Chris MURRAY may be more of a Depth piece

IowaBear said:

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I never said recruiting ranking don't matter. They don't matter in the context your using them though. If you think Josh Cameron plays at a "2" star level than you're in for an eye opener.
Your trump card is "Auburns players are ranked higher" therefore Auburn blows Baylor out. That logic is ******ed especially from a person whose team has sucked dick for half a decade. If stars mattered as much as you Vandy and nMSU wouldn't have beat your ass.
You're NOT trying to have a friendly conversation. Your 16 year old self is trying to blow smoke up asses.
Clueless? The gap in intelligence between you and I is hilariously large. Your knowledge is 3rd grade considering you cant look past anything other than recruiting rankings. I'm not even sure why I'm arguing with a kid still sucking on mommas teet after school.

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You're giving the Baylor fan base a bad look with your venomous comments.

Do recruiting rankings matter or not? What other metrics do you want to look at? Would you like to compare transfer portal rankings? I bet not.

Please post whatever metric you wanna post, I'm all for it. Use your incredibly huge brain and show us how smart you are. I'm very much looking forward to any Baylor fan showing any metrics that indicate Baylor has a chance. Please, please, please, post any metric you'd like.

And Auburn losing to Cal, or New Mexico State, or Vanderbilt, that's irrelevant. This is a New Year with a new team. I don't keep saying we're gonna win cause you went 3-9 and lost to Texas State by 2 scores.

BamaPU said:

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guadalupeoso said:

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Baylor fans have long been in denial about what recruiting rankings mean. In order to have sustained, championship-level success, you have to recruit at a high level. STARS MATTER. Now, that does not mean that you cannot hit development cycles properly and have a great season every 3-4 years (which we have seen happen at Baylor under Rhule and Aranda, meh recruiting - much on par with our history, but recruited some stud kids who by their junior/senior year develop into All-Americans).

However, the flip side of that is you can also have a staff that recruits great but does such a poor job of development or roster building that it never turns into success. But, from a predictive standpoint, recruiting rankings is really one of the best measures.

That said, I am counting on a mix of Auburn's instability and Baylor turning the corner into the upswing of our development cycle and this being a close game/Baylor win. But your point is understood and in MOST instances, recruiting rankings can be a great predictor for success from the 10,000 foot view.

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Wow guadalupeoso - Your post is the 2nd post I've seen that's clearly written by someone that respects themselves. Thank you! I hope your good character rubs off on your peers.

The instability @ Auburn is way over blown by the media. Most of it is likely caused by Bama fans masquerading as Auburn fans. That's their full-time job.

On offense we return a lot of players who have multiple years of starting experience. Jackson Arnold is probably the least experienced player on our offense. But the QB is most important.

Our defensive backfield is experienced too. We had to replace much of our front seven. So we got the starting MLB from Maryland (Caleb Whearland) to transfer to Auburn, and we have DE Keldric Faulk, who will be a 1st round draft pick next NFL draft. Our other DE is Chris Murray, who transferred from Sam Houston State who started at TCU. Chris MURRAY had 5.5 sacks last year @ Sam Houston State. Chris MURRAY may be more of a Depth piece

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Instability was probably the wrong word. Inconsistency may be closer to what I mean. For whatever reason, Freeze has just been unable to get the right scheme, players, staff, and culture to all gel at Auburn. However, they definitely have a talented roster (probably his most talented at AU to date) and should have a top 15 (at worst) defense.

Like I mentioned, for programs like Baylor, when we get to the right point in our development cycle and have the right staff in place, we can really hit our stride. I think we are coming into a year where that development cycle is in a good spot with guys like Josh Cameron and KT, and have gained some stability in playcalling on both sides of the ball. I think all of that should allow us to keep it competitive, even if Auburn is more talented in the traditional sense. I suspect Baylor will win close or Auburn will win big. I don't see a Baylor blowout here as many have predicted.

Show me one person on here who's predicted a Baylor blowout. The only person here predicting a blowout is ironically the Auburn fan you're blowing.

What's the spread on any betting site? Everyone and their mom sees this as a close game. Why?? Because of what Baylor returns as well as how they played down the stretch. It's really not that hard to comprehend. You view Baylor as vastly inferior. Why? Because STARS. Stars are all that matter in your little world. It's why you probably spent a good month trying to figure out why little NMSU beat that Auburn ass. There's a ton of reasons why Baylor can and likely will win this game. Returning production far outweighs potential production until that potential manifest itself.

IowaBear said:

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Show me one person on here who's predicted a Baylor blowout. The only person here predicting a blowout is ironically the Auburn fan you're blowing.

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It's a weirdly common move on a message board to state a popular opinion in a contrite "I'm not like the rest of you guys" manner to make it look like that popular opinion is hated by all these people. I think I've seen maybe one person predict a Baylor blowout.

IowaBear said:

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Show me one person on here who's predicted a Baylor blowout. The only person here predicting a blowout is ironically the Auburn fan you're blowing.

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Why are you so insecure that you have to react to everything with such vitriol? Fellatio jokes like you're 14. (btw, fellatio means oral sex or "blowing" as you put it).

I didn't say that people here, specifically, are predicting a blowout. But Cam Stuart, a few days ago, literally said that he was predicting a Baylor blowout on the Locked on Auburn podcast and I have seen others on twitter agree with his assessment.

However, your anecdotal references to Vanderbilt, NMSU, totally underwhelm my point because there are countless other instances where those teams get beat by 30+ to teams with more talent. I think you are right in that in this specific instance, Baylor has considerations that go beyond recruiting rankings that could result in a win, rendering Auburn's perceived talent surplus a non-factor. But that's besides the point.

As I mentioned in both of my posts, I think Baylor will win here (close) because we are in a good spot as a program. But Baylor fans' continual assertion that stars don't matter is just completely asinine. Because if that were the case, we would see a Big 12 program achieve sustained, national relevance and competitiveness in spite of their recruiting. But we don't. Every year, it's a different team whether it's Baylor, KSU, Ok State, Arizona State, TCU, etc. that breaks through and all the pieces come together and they win the conference and win a NY6 or playoff game. But its a different team every time because none of the programs recruit at a level where they can that level of sustained success over the course of several years. The only programs that do that are at the top of the SEC and the top of the B10.

You're a long time poster. So you likely know that I've long said stars matter in the context of national titles. I've argued that point regularly with fellow BU fans.
Stars however, mean jack **** in this game (like the Auburn fan wants us to believe) Auburn isn't sniffing a title. Their roster isn't anywhere near that of those in title contention. Therefore the stars simply do not matter. Jackson Arnold was I believe the top ranked QB recruit coming out of HS. He's done jack **** in college. Does the fact that he was a 5 star make him better than Sawyer? Who's actually accomplished something at the college level? That's the point BU fans are trying to make. This Auburn clown doesn't understand because his reading comprehension is non existent

So just looking at stars, you'd think Arnold passing to Coleman would destroy us since both are 5 stars. I haven't researched this (and could with a quick google) but how have these 2 done in the past vs others?

IowaBear said:

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You're a long time poster. So you likely know that I've long said stars matter in the context of national titles. I've argued that point regularly with fellow BU fans.
Stars however, mean jack **** in this game (like the Auburn fan wants us to believe) Auburn isn't sniffing a title. Their roster isn't anywhere near that of those in title contention. Therefore the stars simply do not matter. Jackson Arnold was I believe the top ranked QB recruit coming out of HS. He's done jack **** in college. Does the fact that he was a 5 star make him better than Sawyer? Who's actually accomplished something at the college level? That's the point BU fans are trying to make. This Auburn clown doesn't understand because his reading comprehension is non existent

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I actually cannot recall any of your prior posts related to stars, but glad to hear that you are not in denial like many Baylor fans.

I agree that Jackson Arnold at this point should not get the benefit of the doubt, although I think he'll be improved at Auburn just because I think Oklahoma was a bad situation for him with injuries, system, and some waffling from the coaching staff. Sawyer is the more proven and better qb.

I think the stars (or "talent level" or however you want to look at it) in this game only matters from the standpoint that Baylor's margin for error is less than in their average B12 game. Not that they have to play a perfect game by any means, but similar to the bowl game last year (which I think we were the better team), a few bad decisions/bad breaks can flip the script quick, whereas against teams like Cincinnati, UH, etc, we can more easily overcome some of those.