Where did Auburn Tigers Basketball Land in ESPN's Preseason Top 25?

AUBURN, Ala.-- The Auburn Tigers enter the 2025-26 season in a new era with Steven Pearl taking the reins of the program for his first season as a head coach.

With him comes a relatively new team with only sophomore guard Tahaad Pettiford being the lone returning scholarship player from last year's Final Four team. As a result of the many new faces surrounding the program, ESPN's Jeff Borzello is not as high on the program this season as in years past.

In his final college basketball preseason ranking, Borzello ranked Auburn No. 17 nationally heading into the season. Still, another strong season would not surprise Borzello due to Auburn's system not expected to change much.

"Truthfully, we didn't know how far to drop Auburn after Bruce Pearl's sudden retirement last month," he wrote. "The team remained intact, and his son Steven Pearl is expected to lean on what should be a very talented top end of the roster. Moreover, he coached the defense while Mike Burgomaster was the offensive coordinator, so the system should remain fairly similar."

Steven Pearl enters his first season as the head coach for the Auburn Tigers. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Additionally, Borzello pointed to Pettiford, who averaged nearly 12 points per game as a freshman off the bench last season, and transfer Elyjah Freeman as impact players for this season.

"Tahaad Pettiford is an elite playmaker who will be surrounded by three high-major transfers and a potential NBA talent on the wing in Elyjah Freeman," he wrote.

Freeman, who averaged nearly 20 points per game at D-II Lincoln Memorial last season, is one of four transfers to join the team this season alongside guard Kevin Overton (Texas Tech) and forwards Keyshawn Hall (UCF) and KeShawn Murphy (Mississippi State).

Borzello predicts all four transfers to join Pettiford in the starting lineup this season.

"The expectations are the expectations. There’s only one way to tackle those and that’s to dive in headfirst," Pearl said in his introductory press conference. "We tell our players all the time, you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable. We’ve got to be comfortable with these expectations because they are what they are.

"The expectation is to win championships, the expectation is to graduate our players and the expectation is to get our guys to the next level. That’s what we’re going to do and that’s what our commitment is to these young men, that’s what our commitment is to this university and that’s what our commitment is to this fan base. We’re not shying away from what it is."

Auburn opens the 2025-26 season on Nov. 3 at home against Bethune-Cookman.

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