Auburn Basketball Finds Out Opening Opponent For Players Era Championship

The Auburn Tigers will go back to Las Vegas, Nevada, in November, facing an opponent who also won a postseason tournament.

Auburn head coach Steven Pearl will take his team back to the Players Era Championship with hopes of a better outcome. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

For the second season in a row, the Auburn Tigers will be back in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the 2026 Players Era Championship. 

The Tigers will face the West Virginia Mountaineers on Nov. 17 at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino to kick off the non-conference tournament. There are only eight teams in Auburn’s bracket compared to the other 16-team tournament that will take place the following week. 

There you go. https://t.co/CRW8lWjrOV pic.twitter.com/PQNIP8bsbq

— Justin Hokanson (@_JHokanson) May 21, 2026

Florida, Notre Dame, Houston, Rutgers, UNLV and Kansas are the other six teams a part of the bracket. Auburn would play the winner of the Runnin’ Rebels and the Jayhawks on the following day. The final will take place on Nov. 19. 

Head coach Steven Pearl and his group will look to have a different outing out west compared to that of the tournament last season. It was a different tournament style compared to the one the Tigers will play in November, being a group stage, two-game format before the best four teams would play in the championship and third-place games. 

Auburn opened the tournament with an 84-73 win over Oregon, then was blown out by eventual champion, Michigan, 102-72, the following day. The Tigers would lose to St. John’s in their third game, which was considered a consolation game. 

This year, Pearl’s team simply has to survive and advance, beginning with a West Virginia team that ended on a high. The Mountaineers won The Crown postseason tournament, while Auburn won the other postseason tournament, the NIT. 

2023 was the last time that these two teams met, with West Virginia victorious in a 80-77 home win in what was part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

The only other non-conference game that is currently confirmed for the Tigers is a matchup with the Wisconsin Badgers. That game will take place in Nashville on Dec. 19 at the Bridgestone Arena. 

Pearl has a great chance to flip the script in his second season, one that he will look to build on the postseason success that his team saw in 2026. He brings key pieces back in guard Tahaad Pettiford and forward Kevin Overton, who were key contributors in that NIT run. 

Through the transfer portal, Creighton forward Owen Freeman and Troy standout Thomas Dowd headline the five pickups that the Tigers were able to bring in for the 2026-27 season. 

Auburn Tigers on SI will remain updated with all of the team’s remaining non-conference schedule, which is expected to be revealed over the course of the summer.