Auburn Takes Dip in KenPom Ratings After Tight Georgia Game

Following a tight win over the Georgia Bulldogs, Auburn finds themselves playing second fiddle in the recent KenPom Ratings update

Auburn is still ranked the top team in the country but they took a hit elsewhere | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Auburn Tigers see their first dip in any fashion in quite some time. In the latest update in the KenPom ratings, updated on Jan. 19, Auburn dipped to second behind Duke. 

The Blue Devils just edged out the Tigers with a rating of +36.78 to +36.18. 

Despite the dominant run this season, one tight game with a ranked rival was all it took to knock them down a peg. Meanwhile, Duke pulls ahead after an 88-63 pouncing of Boston College on Saturday. 

Not quite the same as the quality of wins go. The Eagles are a .500 near the bottom of the ACC. But the ratings still point to Duke as the stronger team this time around. 

While the Tigers dipped overall, they’re still rated as the top team offensively in the KenPom Ratings. Their offensive efficiency rating of 130.9 has a sizeable lead over Kentucky’s 125.1. 

The Tigers head into a vacant week of play with a 17-1 record overall and are on a 10-game winning streak. Their winning streak continues despite losing their top player Johni Broome, last week to an ankle sprain. He’s projected to only miss a short amount of time and has missed two games so far. Auburn has won both games, both in conference play. 

The upcoming game with Tennessee on Saturday will them a few more days to evaluate before deciding if Broome can get back on the court. In the meantime, they’ve seen other players step up. Tahaad Pettiford put up 24 points to take down Georgia and Chad Baker-Mazara had 20 points en route to blowing out Mississippi State. 

There are two ways to look at the upcoming open week. One, it can help them get healthy to remain a top team ahead of the Tournament. Another, the more pessimistic one is it gives opponents a chance to pull ahead. But that can be countered with the argument that those same chances mean they can slip and Auburn stays ahead.