Auburn rises to No. 2 in latest AP poll
AUBURN — Auburn basketball moved up to No. 2 in the latest AP poll released on Monday.
Auburn received 26 first-place votes, while No. 1 Kansas received 35 first-place votes.
The Tigers almost reached No. 1 for the first time since the 2021-22 season and the second time in program history. Auburn spent three weeks at No. 1 that season and hopes to land back at No. 1 again this season.
One way to jump up one more spot would be to take care of a huge challenge that awaits in two days, as Auburn travels to No. 4 Duke for the SEC-ACC Challenge on Wednesday night.
The Tigers also rank No. 1 in KenPom’s latest ratings and No. 2 in the newly released NCAA NET ratings. Auburn is already 4-0 in Quad I games and has potentially 20 more Quad I opportunities remaining this season, starting at Duke.
The Blue Devils rank No. 9 in the latest AP poll, No. 4 in the NET and No. 4 in KenPom. And Wednesday’s matchup will be the No. 1 most efficient offense (Auburn) vs. the No. 1 most efficient defense (Duke).
Auburn is fresh off winning the Maui Invitational, beating now No. 6 Iowa State, No. 20 North Carolina and No. 16 Memphis in the process. Combined with beating now No. 17 Houston, the Tigers have never started a season in more impressive fashion in the history of the program.
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“Our fans traveled. Our kids were excited about playing every single game,” Bruce Pearl said following the championship win. “We dominated and we controlled the game. Big win for our program. Auburn’s name is going to be on this building forever. We came here to make history and I’m really proud of our club.”
The Tigers are led by senior Johni Broome, who earned Maui MVP honors last week. Broome dominated in Maui, playing 101 minutes in fewer than 48 hours, registering three triple doubles, averaging 21.7 points, 15 rebounds, 4.3 assists and three blocks per tournament game. Broome is currently the No. 1 most efficient player in college basketball according to EvanMiya.com and the No. 3 most efficient player in the nation according to Torvik analytics.
And the gauntlet of tough non-conference games is only beginning. In addition to at Duke on Wednesday, Auburn still has Ohio State in Atlanta on December 14 and No. 8 Purdue in Birmingham on December 21. Sandwiched between those three games are home games against Richmond on Sunday, Georgia State on December 17 and Monmouth on December 30.
SEC play begins on on January 4 with a home game against Missouri.
