Matthew Stevens

Montgomery Advertiser

AUBURN — Following a 55-0 victory over Alabama A&M, Auburn jumped two spots to No. 13 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday night.

This is significant for the Tigers as they approach the Iron Bowl matchup against No. 1 Alabama (11-0, 7-0 in SEC) simply because Auburn remained the second-highest ranked SEC school in the CFP rankings.

If Auburn (8-3, 5-2 in SEC) can maintain that position and Alabama is selected into the playoff for the third consecutive season, the bowl rules dictate Auburn be selected to be the SEC’s representative in the 2017 Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2.

According to the latest College Football Playoff rankings, which were released Tuesday evening, Alabama (1), Auburn (13), Florida (15) and Tennessee (17) were the only SEC schools among the committee’s Top 25 rankings.

Alabama and Florida are guaranteed to match up in the SEC Championship Game in two weeks at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

Tennessee (8-3, 4-3 in SEC) will play at Vanderbilt (5-6, 2-5) at 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

Short of winning the Iron Bowl in which Auburn is currently an 18.5-point road underdog against the No. 1 Crimson Tide, Auburn’s best equation Saturday to ensure a Sugar Bowl trip would be the following:

Lose in a competitive, non-blowout fashion at No. 1 Alabama in the Iron Bowl (2:30 p.m., CBS)

Tennessee is upset by Vanderbilt

Florida loses at Florida State

At that point, Auburn would likely remain the second-highest ranked SEC program in the playoff rankings and as long as Alabama were to beat Florida in the SEC Championship Game the following week, Auburn is headed to New Orleans for the first time since 2005.