9 thoughts on Auburn basketball's 2026-27 non-con schedule
The Tigers won't be playing nearly as brutal of a slate as they have the last two years. But there are challenges to go with some much-needed balance.
AUBURN — It’s not officially official yet. But it’s close.
Auburn basketball is already preparing for Year 2 under Steven Pearl, bringing back the likes of Tahaad Pettiford and Steven Pearl with a reloaded roster of added size, shooting and experience from the transfer portal and the international game.
A couple of weeks ago, we ran through all of the reported matchups for the Tigers’s 2026-27 season — including a recently finalized SEC slate that will feature Will Wade’s unpredictable LSU program joining Alabama and Ole Miss as the rotating home-and-home opponent.
At that point, there were a handful of non-conference games left to find out. On Wednesday, college basketball scheduling expert Rocco Miller reported a game day for Auburn’s high-profile return matchup with Arizona and posted what appears to be a complete schedule for the Tigers.
Auburn has yet to officially announce the non-conference schedule for this upcoming season, but Miller’s track record on reporting scheduling news is stellar.
With that in mind, we can take a closer look at what the Tigers have built out for this upcoming season — a run that doesn’t appear nearly as daunting as the last two years, but still providing what they need to build a resume that can get them back into the NCAA Tournament.
It’s all about balance this time around, just as Pearl told The Observer in a sit-down 1-on-1 interview earlier this summer.
“So, there are three things you’re looking into: It’s strength of schedule, so you can help your metrics at the end of the year,” Pearl said. “It’s getting ready for conference play. And it’s continuing to just build up your NIL budget.”
You can check out the “Everything We Know” post linked above for a breakdown of all the opponents for the Tigers. In this newsletter, we’re going to take a big-picture view of the non-conference schedule and share what stands out about this year’s set.
1. Yes, that’s a 14-game non-conference schedule. That’s new.
During these last two brutal non-conference runs, Auburn has played a total of 13 games each. Before that, the standard was 12. But the Tigers, playing in the Maui Invitational in 2024 and the Players Era Festival in 2025, got a 13th game because of the third leg of those brackets.
The NCAA voted last summer to increase college basketball schedules to a maximum of 32 games, which will go into effect this upcoming season. Auburn will be one of those teams taking advantage of the new rules.
2. The Arizona return visit to Auburn will be played on Friday the 13th.
Auburn played Arizona on the first Saturday of December last year, but a reported matchup with Eastern Kentucky on that same weekend made it clear the return trip would be on a different date. It’s now set for Auburn’s third game of the season, on November 13 — a Friday night. That’s the day before the football team plays at Mississippi State.
Although the Tigers haven’t played a Friday game during football season each of the last two years, it happened multiple times in several of the prior years. Since the football team doesn’t have a bye week in November, either Friday or Sunday was going to have to be the way to go. We’ll see how that slot affects the crowd and the atmosphere, because Friday night games in the past have usually been paycheck ones instead of a visit from a defending Final Four team.
3. Auburn’s run in the Holidays Hoopsgiving event appears to be done.