How to watch Ole Miss vs. Auburn: Game guide, TV schedule, streaming, odds

The season-long SEC West playoffs continue Saturday when Auburn travels to Oxford for a matchup against Ole Miss. It’s the first-ever game pitting two top-10 teams at the Rebels’ Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Even though head coaches Gus Malzahn and Hugh Freeze have similar backgrounds and run similar schemes on both sides of the ball, the Tigers and Rebels are winning with different strengths. While its defense has improved, Auburn is still an offense-first team. The Tigers’ offensive F/+ rating is third-best in the country, according to Football Outsiders, and they’re once again leading the SEC in rushing, averaging 281 yards per game. And Malzahn is still coming up with new wrinkles. Last week against South Carolina, senior H-back Brandon Fulse caught his first two passes of the year, including his first-career touchdown.

The Rebels’ offense is solid -- 22nd in F/+ ratings -- but they’re winning with the nation’s second-best rated defense. The team forces a ton of turnovers, leading the country with 17 interceptions, and a fast, athletic front seven is holding opponents to just 3.2 yards per carry. However, junior linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche was lost for the season in the defeat at LSU, and Bad Bo Wallace made a return at quarterback last week in Baton Rouge.

Game time: 7 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Radio: Auburn; Ole Miss

Online streaming: WatchESPN

Rankings and records: Auburn is 6-1 overall, 3-1 in SEC play and No. 3 in the first-ever College Football Playoff rankings. Ole Miss is 7-1 (4-1) and just behind the Tigers at No. 4. Auburn holds a 28-10 lead in the all-time series.

Vegas: Ole Miss opened as a 3-point favorite, and that spread has dipped slightly to two points at most sportsbooks. The over/under is set at 51, per Odds Shark.

Weather forecast: Saturday’s forecast calls for clear skies, a high of 51 and a low of 33.

Really, everything is at stake. The winner is still alive in the SEC West and College Football Playoff races, and barring some major late-season surprises, the loser is eliminated from both.

Ole Miss’ front seven vs. Auburn’s rushing attack

While Auburn’s defense has been better this year, South Carolina may have found the game plan to move the ball at will against the Tigers, and it led to a shootout. But, Malzahn’s team was able to escape with a win thanks to its running game, which compiled 395 yards, five touchdowns and 8.4 yards per carry. It resembled a 2013 Auburn game, in which the Tigers barely bothered to pass and ran all over the Gamecocks even though the opposition knew what was coming.

It’ll be a tougher road to hoe against the Rebels’ defense, and if Auburn isn’t consistently moving the ball, it could spell serious trouble (see the Mississippi State game). Before the loss to LSU, Ole Miss hadn’t allowed more than 193 rushing yards in a single game this year, and 92 of the Bayou Bengals’ 264 came on the final drive of the night. Whether or not the Rebs’ run D can hold up for 60 minutes against the Tigers will likely decide the outcome.

For more on Auburn, check out College and Magnolia. For all things Ole Miss, visit Red Cup Rebellion.