Auburn Tigers
2017-18 record: 26-8, 13-5 in the SEC
Head coach: Bruce Pearl
Tenure at Auburn: 5th season
Career coaching record: 532-207
Home court: Auburn Arena
Starters: G Bryce Brown, G Jared Harper, F Anfernee McLemore, F Chuma Okeke, C Austin Wiley
Bench: F Danjel Purifoy, G Samir Doughty, G/F Malik Dunbar, F Myles Parker
Overview: Auburn is no longer just a football school. The Tigers have continued to build their basketball program under Bruce Pearl, going from a mid-tier SEC team in 2016 to a conference contender over the course of the last two seasons. The most recent Auburn squad notched big wins against Kentucky and Alabama to cement its place as a solid tournament team, but unfortunately for the Tigers, strong midseason play did not last forever, and they suffered a meltdown in the postseason—getting bounced by the Crimson Tide in the quarterfinals of the conference championship before being crushed 84-53 in the second round of the Big Dance by Clemson.
However, even after having two starters transfer almost immediately after an embarrassing end to last season, Auburn is back with most of its depth from last year. Coupled with Samir Doughty and Danjel Purifoy finally eligible to take to the hardwood, the Tigers make a strong case for their preseason No. 11 ranking.
Historically, Pearl likes to go deep into his bench and play guard-heavy, so a lineup headlined by Brown and Harper and backed up by Purifoy and Doughty fits the bill perfectly. However, the Tigers have already hit a bit of misfortune in the preseason—Wiley and Doughty are currently battling recurring injuries and are questionable to start while Purifoy is currently suspended for the season's first nine games due to eligibility issues related to the FBI investigation of former assistant coach Chuck Person. Without Wiley and the Tigers' highly touted bench players, Auburn will likely have to turn to walk-on Myles Parker for depth in the roster early in the season.
One thing that needs to go right: Although the depth woes are painful, Auburn's core is strong enough to pull through the regular season, and even as a high-profile team, the Tigers still shock the SEC's traditional powerhouses to earn a high NCAA tournament seed.
One thing that can go wrong: Doughty and Wiley take longer to recover than anticipated, the team runs a thin roster through the first part of the season and coupled with the loss of last year's high-production starters, the Tigers aren't able to generate meaningful offense.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.