The Auburn Tigers hope to finish the upcoming season with a deeper NCAA Tournament run. Do they have the pieces to get it done? CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander seems to think so.
In his preseason “100 and 1” rankings, Norlander places the Tigers at No. 49, citing that they have a solid mix of veteran leaders and new talent that can lead them to a successful season.
Bruce Pearl’s got a squad with proven pieces and guys just getting to college. The best of them is Johni Broome, who was a good up-transfer a season ago (via Morehead State). Broome will have fifth-year senior Jaylin Williams and regular-senior K.D. Johnson pushing for a third straight tournament showing for the Tigers. Sporty 6-foot freshman Aden Holloway is the guy a lot of people on the Plains are giddy over, but it all starts with Broome, who was a top-five SEC player from an efficiency standpoint at KenPom. Speaking of KenPom, that metric is in on Auburn. The Tigers rank 15th in the preseason there after finishing 32nd last season despite landing 309th in 3-point accuracy.
Heading into the season, Auburn is in the “receiving votes” category of the initial USA TODAY Coaches Poll and is projected to finish sixth in the SEC. Auburn opens the season on Tuesday, Nov. 7 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota when they face the No. 17 Baylor Bears. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN.
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