Why a tough non-con schedule could be huge for Auburn basketball
The Tigers' slate for 2024-25 could range from difficult to downright brutal. But there's a good reason why they're loading up.
C Johni Broome (Steven Leonard/Auburn Tigers)
Two months ago, Bruce Pearl stood on a porch at Willow Point on Lake Martin and said that Auburn basketball was about to play the toughest non-conference schedule that it’s ever had.
At that time, ESPN hadn’t yet announced the matchups for the second SEC/ACC Challenge. A few weeks after Pearl made that statement, Auburn had a confirmed matchup on the road at nationally known powerhouse Duke for the first Wednesday in December.
Later in June, before a speaking appearance at an AMBUSH alumni club event, Pearl said Auburn was close to finalizing “a big game in Birmingham in December.”
On Monday morning, that game was officially announced: Auburn will be playing defending national runner-up Purdue at Legacy Arena on the Saturday before Christmas. The game will be the first half of a two-part series, with the Tigers traveling to the Boilermakers’ home state in 2025 and playing in Indianapolis.
“We are excited for our players, because if you want to be the best, you have to play the best,” Pearl said in a statement earlier this week.
All of the matchups haven’t been announced at this point. Still, it looks like Auburn is well on its way to not only having its toughest non-conference schedule in recent program history — but having one of the most challenging slates in all of college basketball for the 2024-25 season.
Let’s start with what has been confirmed. The SEC/ACC Challenge matchup at Duke will pit Auburn against the team that is currently ranked No. 2 in the preseason projections at T-Rank, which has recently been added to the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s all-important Team Sheets.
Duke, like Auburn, was a No. 4 seed in the most recent NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils marched all the way to the Elite Eight — beating No. 1 seed Houston in the process — before dropping a second straight postseason game to red-hot rival NC State. Duke has been a top-four seed in 24 of the last 26 versions of the Big Dance.
Under Jon Scheyer, who took over for the legendary Mike Krzyzewski before the 2023-24 season, Duke has turbo-charged what has already been an elite recruiting operation.
While the Blue Devils are only returning 26.6% of their minutes from last season, they have signed by far the nation’s No. 1 class for 2024. That haul includes three consensus 5-stars — including No. 1 overall prospect Cooper Flagg — and two more blue-chips who finished in the top 40 nationally.
Auburn will play what might be the most talented on-paper roster in the country on the road in renowned Cameron Indoor Stadium. One could argue that the trip to Duke might be the toughest non-conference true road game Auburn has ever played.
The Duke trip will immediately follow a second visit to the famous Maui Invitational Tournament in Hawaii. There, Auburn will play three of the following seven teams: T-Rank preseason No. 3 Iowa State, No. 6 North Carolina, No. 12 UConn, No. 18 Michigan State, No. 27 Memphis, No. 70 Dayton and No. 115 Colorado.
The bracket for the 2024 Maui Invitational hasn’t been revealed yet. But there’s a good chance that the Tigers could play multiple teams who are expected to be among the 20 best in the country. When Auburn played in the 2018 Maui Invitational, it lost to a top-five Duke squad and beat No. 66 Xavier and No. 95 Arizona. This field, right now, looks like it could be much tougher.
Those are the five games that have been officially confirmed so far. But the non-conference slate could get even more wild for Auburn — and that’s a great thing.