As the offseason progresses in college basketball, non-conference games for next season continue to be scheduled. On Saturday afternoon, Jon Rothstein reported that the Auburn Tigers and Indiana Hoosiers have agreed to square off in a neutral site game next December.
The matchup between the Tigers and Hoosiers is expected to take place in Atlanta according to the report.
A matchup between the two programs would be just the second time ever, the last time the two teams met was in the 1987 NCAA Tournament. That year, the Hoosiers were a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional and defeated the No. 8 Tigers 107-90 in regulation. Current Nevada head coach Steve Alford led all scorers in that game with 31 points and it would help lead the Hoosiers that year to a national title – the Hoosiers’ last national championship victory.
Auburn this past season went 21-13 overall including 10-8 in SEC play, finishing seventh in the conference. Their performance, however, would be good enough to earn a No. 9 seed in the Midwest regional where they would eliminate No. 8 Iowa in the first round before falling to No. 1 Houston in the Round of 32. It was the second straight season that Bruce Pearl’s program made the NCAA Tournament and the fourth time in five seasons not counting the 2019-2020 COVID-shortened season.
Indiana, on the other hand, went 23-12 including 12-8 in Big Ten play, finishing second in the conference. They would go on to be a No. 4 seed in the Midwest regional, eliminating No. 13 Kent State in the first round before losing in the Round of 32 to eventual Final Four participant, No. 5 Miami (FL).
Next season will be the program’s third under head coach Mike Woodson has delivered the program to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances after missing the last four NCAA Tournaments.