Why this Auburn basketball coach thinks 2025-26 schedule is ‘even harder’ than 2024-25

ALEXANDER CITY — It was no wonder Auburn basketball made it to the 2025 Final Four after what its 2024-25 slate entailed.

A top-two strength of schedule paired with a top-three NET ranking. The Tigers played 25 Quad 1 opponents and secured 19 victories against them, in a season where they wrapped up an SEC championship with a week left in the regular season.

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It’d be a hard thing to out-do, but for the upcoming season, Steven Pearl thinks the Tigers will have it even tougher.

“Some people think, ‘Oh, it’s not as tough as last year,'” the associate head coach said during a coaches caravan event last week. “I disagree, because the competition is just as good, but we’re playing with 10 new guys. I feel like it’s even harder than it was a year ago, just based on what our roster is like.”

That’s the X factor in all this. Where Auburn attacked a stacked schedule last season with veteran leadership and a team with experience alongside each other, this year’s squad has just one returnee.

Here’s a look at what’s known about Auburn’s upcoming slate, and how it stacks up with last season.

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How difficult was Auburn basketball’s 2024-25 schedule?

• Auburn basketball’s 2024-25 records against:

What Auburn did last season was remarkable. In a season where the SEC had a record 14 teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament, the Tigers went 13-5 against them. That was on top of going 11-4 against ranked opponents and 19-6 in Quad 1 games, which included the entire Final Four field of Duke, Houston and Florida.

Auburn basketball’s 2025-26 schedule

• What we know: Auburn basketball’s 2025-26 schedule

  • Other nonconference opponents: Houston

  • SEC opponents

    • Home and Away: Alabama, Arkansas, Ole Miss

    • Home: Kentucky, LSU, South Carolina, Texas, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt

    • Away: Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee

Asterisks denote neutral site contests.

It’s definitely not going to be easy for Auburn in its upcoming season. A big reason why is at least three nonconference rematches, with Arizona, Michigan and Purdue, all of which will be away from Neville Arena.

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On top of that, the Tigers will be tasked with handling Alabama, as well as Ole Miss and Arkansas, in their SEC home-and-homes. They’ll also have a Final Four rematch on the road, against Florida in Gainesville.

“We’ve got our hands full,” Pearl said. “We’ll obviously be really challenged heading into another really challenging SEC schedule. It’s going to be daunting, but it will obviously help us get ready for league play — and it will obviously help us get ready for the tournament.”

Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter. To support Adam’s work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn basketball’s 2025-26 schedule ‘harder’ than 2024-25