Ranking AU's Biggest Games of 2017 (AL.com)

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12. Mercer, Sept. 16
Mercer gets its first taste of major college football in a Week 3 Homecoming game for Auburn. The FCS Bears will either get a Tigers team coming off an important early road win at Clemson and energized fan base or a disappointed group after a loss in Death Valley. Either way, Mercer stands no chance at competing in this game and it will serve its purpose of allowing younger players to get reps early in the season.

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11. ULM, Nov. 18
Another glorified punching bag of an opponent, ULM returns to Jordan-Hare following last year's 58-7 dismantling. There has been a time when Auburn had to try to beat ULM, in 2012, and maybe there will be again, but it won't be in 2017 between the Georgia and Alabama games.
Even with Auburn surely looking to rest personnel for the Iron Bowl the following week, ULM has no realistic chance at winning.

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10. Georgia Southern, Sept. 2
Georgia Southern presents a unique challenge for Auburn due to its triple option offense, a style of attack the Tigers haven't seen in a long time. With that said, since it's the season opening game Auburn will have time to tactically prepare. The key for the Tigers will be to break open the game as fast as possible and prevent the Eagles from hanging around with a possession-based offense.

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9. at Missouri, Sept. 23
If ever Auburn got a good time to make its first trip to an SEC opponent it came this year will Missouri. Columbia can be a tough environment if there's something at stake but with little to cheer for Auburn could silence the home crowd quickly. Missouri is coming off a 4-8 season and was the worst team in the SEC a year ago. For Mizzou to snap a losing streak to ranked team against either a 3-0 or 2-1 Auburn team would be stunning.

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8. Mississippi State, Sept. 30
Auburn made quick work of Mississippi State in Starkville last season and other than Nick Fitzgerald, there is little reason to believe the Bulldogs will present a huge challenge this fall. Even if the game were to turn into a shootout, Auburn has more firepower.

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7. Ole Miss, Oct. 7
With two new coordinators and a program in turmoil, Ole Miss is in a brutal position to compete on a weekly basis this fall. However, by midseason the kinks may be worked out a bit and Wesley McGriff will bring plenty of knowledge of Auburn's defense to the table for the Rebels. The series has been quite competitive between Gus Malzahn and Hugh Freeze, who has a talented quarterback once again in Shea Patterson.

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6. at Arkansas, Oct. 21
Auburn dismantled Arkansas on the Plains last season in one of the most lopsided games in SEC history. Predicting a repeat would be foolish though. Austin Allen is a talented quarterback and Paul Rhoads has taken over as defensive coordinator for the Razorbacks. This year's game comes in between road trips to LSU and Texas A&M so Auburn's season could be hanging in the balance or on the cusp of taking off at this point in October.

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5. at Texas A&M, Nov. 4
The series was pivotal and season-defining from 2012-2015 and took a break with the early meeting last season but will could be enormous once again this fall. It'll be the third straight road game for the Tigers before returning to the Plains for Georgia, ULM and Alabama. For Texas A&M, this matchup may have a huge impact on Kevin Sumlin's future in College Station depending on how the Aggies fare against UCLA, Arkansas, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi State before facing Auburn.

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4. at LSU , Oct. 14
Auburn has found it impossible to win in Death Valley since 1999. A meeting later on the schedule compared to recent years may help, particularly with a new offensive coordinator and likely quarterback, but it could help LSU too. Defense will be at a premium and it's hard to see Danny Etling outplaying Jarrett Stidham but Derrius Guice and Kamryn Pettway may be the main attractions.

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3. at Clemson, Sept. 9
Clemson believes it can reload from the personnel losses off last year's national championship team but getting this game in Week 2 is huge for Auburn. This will serve as an early indicator of how the season could end up for both teams. A true road win at the defending champs, even without so much talent from a year ago, would be enormous for Auburn. A loss would not be devastating, but it would be a setback.

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2. Georgia, Nov. 11
There may be teams more talented than Georgia that are ranked lower on this list but Auburn has simply had too difficult a time beating the Bulldogs to ignore how hard this rivalry game is to win. Add to it that Georgia has two of the best running backs in the SEC and a quarterback who could be having a breakout sophomore season and the Deep South's oldest rivalry is should have another good chapter.

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1. Alabama, Nov. 25
It's the biggest game every year and no matter what's at stake that's no changing. With Alabama having won the SEC the last three years and Auburn hoping to contend for the West division title, the Iron Bowl could once again have huge national implications.

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