Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl has assembled a non-conference schedule for the 2015 year that will be nothing short of an uphill battle. The Tigers will participate in a loaded Diamond Head Classic as well as facing at least four and as many as seven opponents who played in the NCAA Tournament.
"In the non-conference, you get to send your team a message," Pearl said in a statement. "That is whether you believe in them or not."
The Tigers open the season at home against UAB and will remain at the Arena to host Colorado, Georgia Southern, and Northwestern State.
"If you schedule soft, and you are not willing to travel, you send them a message that I don't think we are very good, and we need to play the soft schedule, and I'm not doing it," Pearl said.
The Tigers will travel to Coastal Carolina on Dec. 2, which is part of a three game series against former Auburn coach Cliff Ellis' team. Auburn will get a 10 day break for exams and then head to the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee to take on Middle Tennessee State. The Tigers will come home to host Mercer on Dec. 15, who defeated No. 3 seed Duke 78-71 in the NCAA Tournament. Following Mercer the Tigers will make a return trip to Xavier Dec. 19, only three days before the Diamond Head Classic.
The Diamond Head Classic on Dec. 22-23 and Dec. 25 showcases one of the toughest fields in college basketball. Four NCAA Tournament teams in Oklahoma, which reached the Sweet 16 with a 24-11 record and Big12 runner-up; Northern Iowa won the Missouri Valley Conference and went 31-4; Harvard, who lost to North Carolina 67-65 in the NCAA Tournament and won the Ivy League; and BYU, West Coast Conference runner-up to Gonzaga. Host Hawaii went 22-13 and was the Big West Conference Tournament runner-up.
"When Jay Jacobs asked me what it's going to take to become a Top 25 program, one of the first things I told him was we have to schedule like one. I believe in putting our team in harm's way. I think that philosophy enabled us to win at LSU and at Georgia and play well on the road. We played well at Alabama. We played well at Tennessee. We played well at Missouri. We were competitive." Pearl said.
The Tigers will play 2015 NCAA Tournament participant Oklahoma State in the Big 12-SEC Challenge on Jan. 30. This will be Auburn's third straight year of being in the Challenge, and the first time hosting a game in the Arena.
Times and television are to be determind while the 18-game SEC portion of the schedule will be announced in August.
Auburn Basketball's 2015-16 non-conference schedule
Fri. Nov. 13 UAB
Tue. Nov. 17 Colorado
Fri. Nov. 20 Georgia Southern
Fri. Nov. 27 Northwestern State
Wed. Dec. 2 at Coastal Carolina
Sat. Dec. 12 (1) at Middle Tennessee State
Tue. Dec. 15 Mercer
Sat. Dec. 19 at Xavier
Dec. 22, 23, 25 (2) Diamond Head Classic
Sat. Jan. 30 (3) Oklahoma State
(1) Nashville, Tenn. (Bridgestone Arena)
(2) Honolulu, Hawaii (Stan Sheriff Center)
(3) Big 12/SEC Challenge (Auburn, Ala.)
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