Auburn futures pick: War Eagle worth a wager 

Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ 

Into the future …

Reluctant. Hesitant. Straddling the fence like an unconfident chump.

All fairly described where this birdbrain stood on Auburn when the calendar flipped to February. Boy was I an unaccepting coward.

Coming off a 40-point massacre of South Carolina, a team thought to be unrelenting defensively, Bruce Pearl’s Tigers have finally convinced this begrudging mind. Auburn is good — really good. School legend Bo Jackson, who witnessed the thrashing inside Neville Arena on Wednesday, completely agrees.

In examining the sports betting market, arguably the best lookahead line on Auburn is regular-season hardware in the SEC. According to ESPN’s BPI data, the prowling cats have the easiest remaining schedule. Meanwhile, current conference front-runner Alabama, which leads by a measly one-half game, owns the fourth-hardest row to hoe.

For the advanced numbers nerds like me in the crowd, the Tigers are one of four teams with top-20 national rankings in offensive and defensive efficiency. The others? Oh just some piddly mid-majors named UConn, Purdue and Houston — all presently projected as No. 1 seeds in the latest Bracket Big Board.

Tirelessly crashing the offensive glass and guarding the opposition (42.4 2PT%, 29.9 3PT% in last nine games), Auburn possesses the balance needed to rack wins home or away.

The formula to cash a winner for this -EV bettor?

1. Take down Kentucky in what should be a “first team to 90 wins” affair Saturday at home.
2. Protect the friendly confines against meek Mississippi State and Georgia and …
3. Go 2-1 in their remaining road matchups.

That’s right, the battle in Knoxville against Tennessee may not matter, especially given the Vols’ brutal finish (Auburn, at Alabama, at South Carolina, Kentucky).

In the SEC’s four-horse race, I’m betting on a certain battlesome bird.

Fly like an Eagle

Let my spirit carry me

The Pick: Auburn to win SEC title (+270, DraftKings)