How Underrated Is Auburn Basketball Heading Into 2026-27 Season?

A year ago, a hectic offseason for the Auburn Tigers men’s basketball team finished up with an emergency head coaching switch from father to son, when Bruce Pearl surprised the college basketball world with an abrupt retirement.

Now, his son, Steven, will look to build on his first season in 2026-27, and the expectations might be a little lower than his first year.

Eight SEC teams made ESPN college basketball analyst Jeff Borzello’s way-too-early top 25 list. However, Auburn did not have a spot on the list, compared to high hopes that Pearl had in his inaugural season in 2025-26.

However, it could have the Tigers exactly where they want to be: underrated.

Let’s start with last year’s postseason. Auburn was one of the first teams out of the NCAA Tournament, but then proved doubters wrong with an NIT win. It could be the perfect momentum that Pearl needed to kickstart the program’s new era.

The next thing to mention was the retention along the way. The Tigers got two key retentions with guard duo Tahaad Pettiford and Kevin Overton. Both averaged double-digit amounts and played over 30 minutes for the program last season. Pettiford was a key member as a freshman of Auburn’s Final Four run two seasons ago, and he’s shown how much of a standout he can be.

Yes, the likes of Keyshawn Hall and Elyjah Freeman are gone, but Pearl has a solid transfer portal class that will fill in the missing roles. That began with two four-star transfers in Troy’s Thomas Dowd and Creignton’s Owen Freeman.

Dowd averaged 14.4 points and over 10 boards for the Trojans last season, looking to be an all-around piece with the Tigers in his final year of eligibility. Freeman gives Pearl some length down low, being a key piece with the Iowa Hawkeyes two seasons ago before going to the Bluejays. Freeman averaged over 16 points per game in his sophomore season.

Guard George Kimble III, forward Adam Olsen and center Bukky Obeye will also be critical rotational pieces over the course of the season. Two freshmen, Caleb Williams and Narcisse Ngoy, will round out the roster.

Auburn has plenty of early games to prove its worth as well. The Tigers have another shot of the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas, Nev. this November. While playing three premier programs during that stretch, the program also has to play Wisconsin on Dec. 19 in Nashville.

An ACC/SEC challenge game with Clemson also awaits Pearl on Dec. 1.

The Tigers have their opportunities, while also playing in a stacked SEC conference. If they can stack a few wins together to begin 2027, it will help them stay off the bubble that ended up haunting them on Selection Sunday.

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