Following back-to-back wins on the road against Texas and South Carolina, Auburn men’s basketball makes the jump to No. 1 in the AP poll following six straight weeks at No. 2 – achieving the new rank for the first time since a three-week stretch from Jan. 24, 2022 to Feb. 7, 2022.
Bruce Pearl remains one of three head coaches all-time to lead three different schools to a No. 1 ranking in the polls, joining Frank McGuire and John Calipari. Pearl achieved the feat with Southern Indiana (Division II) in 1997, Tennessee in 2008 and Auburn in 2022 and again today.
Monday’s ranking marks the 40th time in program history, and 20th under Pearl the Tigers are in the AP top-five. It also marks just the fourth time ever Auburn has been ranked No. 1 nationally.
The Tigers are one of eight SEC teams ranked this week – with five ranked in the Top 10. Auburn is followed by conference members; No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Florida, No. 6 Tennessee, No. 8 Kentucky, No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 15 Mississippi State, No. 21 Ole Miss and No. 23 Georgia.
Pearl and his squad already have seven quad-one wins in their first 16 games of the season – all which were won away from home. The Tigers’ average margin of victory against its seven quad-one opponents is 13.5 points.
Auburn has wins against four teams in this week’s AP top 25; No. 2 Iowa State, No. 10 Houston, No. 17 Purdue and No. 18 Memphis.
The Tigers also ranked at the top of the KenPom metric system with wins over two of the top five rated teams and lead No. 2 Duke by a +.36 margin.
The top ranked Tigers return home to face No. 15 Mississippi State in Auburn first ranked matchup of league play on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 6 p.m. CST before hitting the road again to take on No. 23 Georgia on Saturday, Jan. 18 at Noon CST inside of Stegeman Coliseum.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
Patrick is a junior from Auburn, Alabama, double majoring in journalism and marketing. He started with The Plainsman in the fall of 2022.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @patrickabingham
