Auburn basketball played the 10th toughest schedule in the SEC last season. As a partial result, the Tigers exited the NCAA Tournament earlier than expected with a first-round loss to Yale.
Head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] looks to put his team in a better position to win more meaningful games next season by piecing together what could be the Tigers’ toughest nonconference schedule in recent memory.
Before Monday’s Bruce Pearl Fore the Children Golf Classic at Willow Point Golf and Country Club in Alexander City, Pearl met with the media to discuss several topics including scheduling. Pearl says that Auburn fans can expect his team to play the toughest nonconference schedule of his 11-year Auburn tenure.
“We’re going to play a non-conference schedule, some of it has been released and some of it you guys have heard about, but that hasn’t been released yet…we’re going to have the toughest non-conference schedule we’ve ever had,” Pearl said Monday.
Auburn is scheduled to play in the Maui Invitational early next season which includes powers such as North Carolina, UConn, and Iowa State. Justin Hokanson of Auburn Live says that Auburn could also play Purdue, Houston, and NC State in neutral site action. Mixing those opponents in with an ACC foe as part of the ACC-SEC Challenge could provide Auburn with a solid resume heading into a revamped SEC schedule that includes newcomers Oklahoma and Texas.
Auburn finished the 2023-24 season with the No. 60 overall toughest schedule according to KenPom, which ranked No. 10 in the SEC. The Tigers played several power programs such as Notre Dame, Indiana, Virginia Tech, and USC in nonconference play last season. However, those four teams combined to build a 66-67 record with neither program finishing higher than No. 58 in the KenPom, nor providing Auburn with a quad 1 win.
The Tigers will look to build on its 2023-24 success by returning several notable players including [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag], [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag], and [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag] as well as newcomers [autotag]JP Pegues[/autotag], [autotag]Tahaad Pettiford[/autotag], and [autotag]Ja’Heim Hudson[/autotag].
Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__