Kaidon Salter transfer portal rumors: 5 teams who would upgrade with Liberty QB

1. Auburn Tigers are the presumptive favorite because of Hugh Freeze

Without question, the best landing spot for Salter has to be the Auburn Tigers for so many reasons. One, he played for Freeze previously at Liberty. Two, Salter had obvious SEC talent coming out of high school, as illustrated by his brief time at Tennessee. Three, Auburn needs to upgrade at quarterback to have any shot at sustaining excellence in an expanded SEC. And four, Auburn will let things slide...

Past transgressions have never been a reason to stop a player, or a head coach in Freeze's case, from going to Auburn. Truth be told, I think it kind of gives them an edge as a program. When the Tigers are good, they tend to play and coach with a certain level of grit necessary to win and win big. It would serve Freeze and Salter to link up once again and see what they can accomplish together at Auburn.

Not to say Auburn will be good enough to crack the top-half of the expanded SEC, but it would not shock me either to see them as the fifth or sixth-best team in the league next season, cracking the top 25 and pushing for a College Football Playoff berth right away. Liberty would have been the No. 12 seed this past year as the Group of Five winner had the 12-team format been in effect already.

Seeing Salter commit to anyone but Auburn would be shocking to say the least, as it is the favorite.