Inside Auburn’s 2025-26 Basketball Schedule: Why Coach Warns It’s a Whole New Level of Challenge

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.

AI-assisted summary
• Auburn basketball’s 2024-25 season included a top-two strength of schedule and top-three NET ranking.
• Associate head coach Steven Pearl believes the 2025-26 schedule will be even tougher due to roster turnover.
• Auburn’s 2025-26 schedule includes rematches against Arizona, Michigan, and Purdue, along with challenging SEC opponents.

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.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.”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.”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.

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.

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

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

• Auburn basketball’s 2024-25 records against:
  • Overall: 32-6
  • SEC: 15-3
  • Ranked opponents: 11-4
  • Quads
    • Q1: 19-6
    • Q2: 6-0
    • Q3: 2-0
    • Q4: 5-0

Asterisks denote neutral site contests.

Auburn basketball’s 2025-26 schedule

• What we know: Auburn basketball’s 2025-26 schedule
  • Nov. 24: vs.* Oregon
  • Nov. 25: vs.* Michigan
  • Dec. 3: vs. NC State
  • Dec. 6: at Arizona
  • Dec. 20: vs.* Purdue
  • Dec. 29: Queens
  • 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

Watching Auburn’s 2024-25 basketball campaign unfold was nothing short of a masterclass in resilience and tenacity. With a strength of schedule perched firmly in the top two nationwide and a NET ranking that barely budged outside the top three, the Tigers didn’t just play tough—they defined toughness. Facing down 25 Quad 1 opponents and emerging victorious in 19 of those battles, Auburn clinched the SEC title a full week before the regular season curtain fell. But here’s the rub: as the Tigers gear up for 2025-26, associate head coach Steven Pearl warns that the road ahead may be even rockier. The team is turning over nearly its entire roster, trading seasoned veterans for fresh faces, and that makes the gauntlet laid out by their schedule all the more daunting. Rematches against powerhouses like Arizona, Michigan, and Purdue await, along with a punishing slate of SEC foes. It’s a puzzle wrapped in a challenge, and if last season was a marathon, next year’s race promises to be a wild rollercoaster. Intrigued to see how it all stacks up? LEARN MOREHere’s a look at what’s known about Auburn’s upcoming slate, and how it stacks up with last season.ALEXANDER CITY — It was no wonder Auburn basketball made it to the 2025 Final Four after what its 2024-25 slate entailed.

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