{"id":41178,"date":"2025-07-05T16:28:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T16:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/41178\/"},"modified":"2025-07-05T16:28:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T16:28:12","slug":"why-this-auburn-basketball-coach-thinks-2025-26-schedule-is-even-harder-than-2024-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/41178\/","title":{"rendered":"Why this Auburn basketball coach thinks 2025-26 schedule is &#8216;even harder&#8217; than 2024-25"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ALEXANDER CITY \u2014 It was no wonder <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/did-tahaad-pettiford-almost-stay-002507858.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Auburn basketball;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Auburn basketball<\/a> made it to the 2025 Final Four after what its 2024-25 slate entailed.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;d be a hard thing to out-do, but for the upcoming season, <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/why-transfer-portal-makes-final-213938761.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Steven Pearl;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Steven Pearl<\/a> thinks the Tigers will have it even tougher.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Some people think, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s not as tough as last year,'&#8221; the associate head coach said during a coaches caravan event last week. &#8220;I disagree, because the competition is just as good, but we\u2019re playing with 10 new guys. I feel like it&#8217;s even harder than it was a year ago, just based on what our roster is like.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s the X factor in all this. Where <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/basketball\/ncaab\/teams\/auburn-tigers\/1299\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Auburn;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Auburn<\/a> attacked a stacked schedule last season with veteran leadership and a team with experience alongside each other, this year&#8217;s squad has just one returnee.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a look at what&#8217;s known about Auburn&#8217;s upcoming slate, and how it stacks up with last season.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>How difficult was Auburn basketball&#8217;s 2024-25 schedule?<img alt=\"Mar 30, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl and his team celebrate after winning the South Regional final of the 2025 NCAA tournament against the Michigan State Spartans at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"657\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/f96d42a1f5a6b35e7378cf9acfd5c7e3.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Mar 30, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl and his team celebrate after winning the South Regional final of the 2025 NCAA tournament against the Michigan State Spartans at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<ul class=\"content-list\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Auburn basketball&#8217;s 2024-25 records against:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"content-list\">\n<li\/>\n<li\/>\n<li\/>\n<li\/><\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Auburn basketball&#8217;s 2025-26 schedule<img alt=\"Auburn Tigers take on Purdue Boilermakers at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala., on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. Auburn Tigers defeated Purdue Boilermakers 87-69.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"639\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ed6d8a690b2dd928b46d1b396bdf854e.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Auburn Tigers take on Purdue Boilermakers at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala., on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. Auburn Tigers defeated Purdue Boilermakers 87-69.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"content-list\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>What we know: Auburn basketball&#8217;s 2025-26 schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"content-list\">\n<li\/>\n<li\/>\n<li\/>\n<li\/>\n<li\/>\n<li\/>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Other nonconference opponents: <\/strong>Houston<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>SEC opponents<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"content-list\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"\">Home and Away: Alabama, Arkansas, Ole Miss<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\">Home:\u00a0Kentucky, LSU, South Carolina, Texas, Texas A&amp;M, Vanderbilt<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\">Away:\u00a0Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Asterisks denote neutral site contests.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>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&#8217;ll also have a Final Four rematch on the road, against Florida in Gainesville.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We\u2019ve got our hands full,&#8221; Pearl said. &#8220;We\u2019ll obviously be really challenged heading into another really challenging SEC schedule. It\u2019s going to be daunting, but it will obviously help us get ready for league play \u2014 and it will obviously help us get ready for the tournament.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/mailto:acole@gannett.com\" data-ylk=\"slk:acole@gannett.com;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">acole@gannett.com<\/a> or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/colereporter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:@colereporter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">@colereporter<\/a>. To support Adam&#8217;s work, please <a href=\"https:\/\/nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsubscribe.montgomeryadvertiser.com%2Foffers%3Fgps-source%3DCPNEWS%26itm_content%3Dsubspromo&amp;data=05%7C02%7CACole%40montgome.gannett.com%7Cd563015988a0462897c208dda884ea77%7Cbc924c8d3e164e88bf26d7fcfb14f2d5%7C0%7C0%7C638852011010317430%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=V5zEqAO4pA6RMOA0Lbi7DL7yEYSHEQLrT4Qi7RwWQCE%3D&amp;reserved=0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montgomeryadvertiser.com\/story\/sports\/college\/auburn\/2025\/07\/05\/auburn-basketball-2025-26-schedule-steven-pearl\/84466657007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Auburn basketball&#039;s 2025-26 schedule &#039;harder&#039; than 2024-25;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Auburn basketball&#8217;s 2025-26 schedule &#8216;harder&#8217; than 2024-25<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALEXANDER CITY \u2014 It was no wonder Auburn basketball made it to the 2025 Final Four after what&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":41179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[32579,1339,1317,1337,1338,2973,62,32578,26505,67,132,32580,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-41178","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-auburn","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-basketball","12":"tag-ncaabasketball","13":"tag-sec","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-steven-pearl","16":"tag-the-tigers","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-upcoming-season","20":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}