The Auburn Tigers were a quarter away from winning the 2013 college football National Championship and finishing off one of the biggest single-season turnarounds in sports history. In 2012 the Tigers produced their worst season in the school's 60-year history by going winless in SEC play and seemed to be at the beginning of a long rebuilding process.

The next year Auburn won its eighth SEC title and made its second BCS Championship Game appearance since 2010 under the guidance of first-year head coach and former-offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn. Auburn ended the year by losing a heartbreaker to Florida State after taking an early 18-point lead. The school has seemed to turn its football fortunes around quicker than most people expected, and Auburn will head into 2014 on the short list of title favorites. Let's take a closer look at the school's 2015 college football national championship odds with predictions and analysis.

Auburn Odds to win the 2015 National Championship Storylines

One of the biggest concerns Auburn may have heading into the 2014 season will be replacing its running back, Tre Mason, who broke the school's single-season rushing-yards record that was formerly held by Bo Jackson, as well as left tackle Greg Robinson, who left for the NFL. The squad is said to have produced a solid recruiting class during the offseason, which was ranked in the Top 10 nationally.

Auburn will be returning 17 starters from last season, including quarterback Nick Marshall, three wide receivers and eight defensive players. Last year the team was ranked in the Top 12 in total offensive yards, rushing yards and points scored. Losing Mason will probably impact the team's style of play, and it may rely on Marshall and the passing game much more than it did in 2013.

The Tigers open up their 2014 schedule against Arkansas at the end of August, will face LSU in October and will have their biggest game of the year against Alabama in late November to close out the season. The team is in good position to be one of the four teams to play in the inaugural BCS playoffs in 2015.

Auburn 2015 National Championship Odds

Auburn is currently receiving the fifth-best title odds in the nation at +1000, according to Sportsbook.ag. Florida State, Alabama, Oregon and Ohio State are all ahead of the Tigers at the moment. The team also has a prop on the board as to whether or not they will compete in the playoff semifinal this season. The "no" is currently a big favorite at -325.

In 2013 Auburn went 12-2 ATS and covered all four games it played on the road while producing a 8-2 home ATS record. The squad also produced an 8-6 totals record and managed to go "over" in three of its four road matchups for the season.

Auburn Odds to Win the 2015 College Football National Championship Picks

It is difficult to pick Auburn to win the 2015 national title for one simple fact: Florida State, the defending National Champion, improved while the Tigers did not. The team lost its best player on offense and its best player on defense. Florida State, on the other hand, will be returning its Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and many of its defensive starters from last season.

The fact that 2014 will be the first year that a national title playoff will be instituted also plays a role in diminishing Auburns changes of winning a title. Even if the team happens to win the SEC again this year, it would still have to face two of football's elite squads before raising a trophy and cashing in on this futures wager. Auburn is a good team, but there are two or three other squads that are truly elite. A wager on the Tigers still holds value because of the fact that anything can happen during a football game, but there are much better situations to put your money.

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