The Southeastern Conference announced the 2018 SEC basketball schedule Friday morning, with highlights for the Tigers including home and away games with the usual Alabama, Georgia and Ole Miss and the addition of home and away games at Kentucky and Mississippi State.
Auburn went 13-5 in conference play last season, earning a co-regular season championship shared with Tennessee. However, the Tigers would go on to lose in their first game of the SEC Tournament to Alabama 81-63.
While the Tigers may open the year hosting the Washington Huskies, they won’t begin conference play until Jan. 9, when the team will travel to Ole Miss. Auburn will alternate between home and away games for the first four contests, hosting Georgia on Jan. 12, traveling to Texas A&M on Jan. 16 and then returning home to host Kentucky on Jan. 19.
Auburn will then begin a short road trip, traveling to South Carolina on Jan. 22 and then returning after playing at Mississippi State on Jan. 26.
The longest home stand of conference play will begin when the Tigers host Missouri on Jan. 30, Alabama on Feb. 2 and Florida on Feb. 5.
Auburn again will alternate between home and away games for the next four contests, starting at LSU on Feb. 9, home vs Ole Miss on Feb. 13, at Vanderbilt on Feb. 16 and wraps up at home on Feb. 20 hosting Arkansas.
The Tigers will wrap up their regular season with three of the last five games on the road, with two consecutive road games beginning at Kentucky on Feb. 23 and then at Georgia on Feb. 27 before returning home on Mar. 2 to face Mississippi State.
For the final two games of the year, Auburn will travel to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama on Mar. 5 before returning home to play Tennessee on Mar. 9 for close out the regular season.
After the regular season wraps up, Auburn will have four days to prepare before the SEC tournament tips off in Nashville. The tournament will take place from Mar. 13-17.
After the SEC sent a league record eight teams to the NCAA tournament last year, there is no doubt that this year’s schedule will be a test for the Tigers, as they try to regain some of the magic that last years team had when they reached as high as 8th in the AP College Basketball Poll before ending the season ranked 23rd.
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