The Auburn Tigers have set themselves up for a challenge with their out-of-conference schedule. This gauntlet will feature multiple teams that finished top 10 in last year’s AP Poll and made it deep into the NCAA Tournament.
They’ll face No. 3 Houston and No. 9 Duke on the road as well as No. 2 Purdue in Birmingham and Ohio State in Atlanta. In last year’s March Madness Tournament, Houston reached the Sweet Sixteen, Duke reached the Elite Eight and Purdue was the runner-up.
It’s a lot of opponents who know how to win.
Head coach Bruce Pearl believes taking on a challenging schedule is one of the best ways for Auburn to show it belongs in that conversation.
“I don’t know if we can recruit like a top-10 program,” Pearl said. “I don’t know if we can finish like a top-10 program, but I can schedule like one because I control that…We’re just trying to act like we belong.”
Trying to put together a challenging non-conference schedule is nothing new for the Tigers. However, it does not always work out that the opponent’s will still be challenging by the time they face off.
For example, Auburn scheduled USC and Indiana last season – two teams that played in March Madness the year prior. However, both teams took steps back and didn’t make for quality opponents.
“If it weren’t for our record, the margins of victory and some of the analytics, we weren’t going to have enough quad one wins to be better than a five seed,” Pearl said.
Should the competition hold up to being the high-caliber opponent they’re meant to be, Auburn will be ready to go. Pearl is eager for that opportunity to take down a top program.
“We’re a veteran team, and I want to give our guys that opportunity,” Pearl said. “I want to give these guys that chance and I want to give our fans the opportunity to go down there and go to Houston and support us against Houston, knowing that they will be No. 1, 2, or 3 in the country on the road.”
Auburn will play Houston on Nov. 9 as part of the Battleground 2K. They’ll play Duke on Dec. 4 as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge. Auburn will play Ohio State as part of Holiday Hoopsgiving in Atlanta on Dec. 14. They will play Purdue at a neutral site in Birmingham on Dec. 21.
