Arkansas St. Red Wolves vs. Auburn Tigers Preview: The Malzahn Bowl

Arkansas St. Red Wolves vs. Auburn Tigers, 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN

On another week, this might be a relatively low-profile game in the SEC. After all, the only thing to recommend it for viewing is the intrigue of seeing Gus Malzahn go up against his old team. While Auburn is by no means assured of a win in this one -- Chris Fuhrmeister made it clear during Team Speed Kills Now that he was nervous about the game -- it's also just an SEC team against a Sun Belt team.

But Malzahn is squaring off against his old team, and there aren't many high-profile games involving the SEC this weekend, so the Arkansas State-Auburn matchup becomes the third most important showdown of the day almost by default. Welcome back to relevance, Auburn.

Jokes aside, it would be something of a boost for the Tigers if they can do what is expected of them and take this game. It would put Auburn at 2-0 and with a chance to move to 3-0 against Mississippi State before heading to Baton Rouge for a game against LSU. And while you can come up with scenarios for Gus Malzahn to take his new team to a bowl if they lose against the Red Wolves, plausibility almost demands they win this one. No matter how important the game is, you have to figure that SEC talent and the head coach win out in the end.

Auburn 34, Arkansas State 28