Auburn finalizes Ohio State game, neutral-site matchup in Atlanta set

AUBURN — Auburn basketball has finalized a neutral site non-conference game against Ohio State inside State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Ga. next season as part of the 2024 Holiday Hoopsgiving.

The game will be played on December 14. Both teams are expected to be highly ranked in the preseason polls.

Florida will play Arizona State and Georgia will play Grand Canyon as a part of the multi-team event.

Auburn Live first reported in May that Auburn would play in the Hoopsgiving game. The original opponent was set to be NC State, before the Wolfpack backed out, sources told Auburn Live. As part of the three game, same-day event in Atlanta, Florida will play Arizona State and Georgia will play Grand Canyon.

Auburn will play Houston at the Toyota Center on November 9.

Then, Auburn will play in the Maui Invitational from November 25-27. The tournament also includes UConn, North Carolina, Michigan State, Iowa State, Memphis, Dayton and Colorado.

Shortly following that tournament, Auburn will play at Duke as part of the ACC-SEC Challenge. Pearl can’t wait for that one, as it’s a bucket list game for not only fans, but Pearl himself.

“It will be a bucket list for me. To coach in that environment against a great coaching staff,” Pearl said. “They are picked number one in the country by almost every poll. They have three or four guys that have a chance to be first rounders, so our guys will be excited about the opportunity. We will have to really play well and play physical, play smart and make some shots. It’s definitely a bucket list.”

Finally, Auburn recently announced a two-game series with perennial power Purdue. The two teams will play in Birmingham on December 20 this year and play again in December of 2025 in Indianapolis.

“I think the biggest thing is now, we have the program to the point where they want to match us up against Duke. Or, we get to go to the Maui Invitational against teams like UConn, Michigan State and North Carolina. Then we made some decisions,” Pearl said.

“It’s easier to get a program there than keep a program there. I think the best way for us to keep it there is to act like we belong there. The only way you can act like you belong there is to play the best.”

This will be Auburn’s fifth appearance in the Hoopsgiving event, beating Indiana last season by 28 points, losing to Memphis in 2022, beating Nebraska in 2021 and beating Memphis in 2020.

The Tigers are 0-1 all-time against the Buckeyes. The only meeting between the two teams came in 1999, when 1-seed Auburn lost to Ohio State in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The final was 72-64 in a game played inside Thompson Boiling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn.

Ohio State is coming off a 22-14 season, going 9-11 in Big Ten play. The Buckeyes defeated Final Four team Alabama on a neutral floor during the non-conference schedule, plus beat eventual national runner-up Purdue during the regular season. Ohio State won two games in the NIT before losing a home game against Georgia to end the season.

Ohio State fired former head coach Chris Holtmann before the season finished, promoting Jake Diebler to interim head coach. Diebler led Ohio State to a 6-2 record to finish the regular season and was hired as the new head coach in March.

Auburn went 27-8 overall and 13-5 in conference play last season, winning the SEC Tournament in Nashville. It was the Tigers’ second conference tournament title and fourth overall conference championship under Bruce Pearl .

Both Auburn and Ohio State have already been frequent mentions in many preseason Top 25 polls by college basketball pundits, with the Tigers on being around the Top 10 and the Buckeyes being around 20-25.

Ohio State is reloading in a big way, bringing in two high school prospects ranked inside the top 135 nationally, plus adding transfers Aaron Bradshaw from Kentucky, Meechie Johnson from South Carolina, Sean Stewart from Duke and Micah Parrish from San Diego State.

Bruce Pearl recently said this would be Auburn’s toughest non-conference schedule during his tenure.

The Tigers are already set to play in the Maui Invitational this November. The 41st annual tournament will return to the historic Lahaina Civic Center Nov. 25-27, 2024. Auburn joins a field that consists of Memphis, Michigan State, UConn, Colorado, Dayton, Iowa State and North Carolina. The Tigers are guaranteed to play three games in the tournament.

Auburn returns a deep, experienced and talented roster. It will feature as much versatility as Pearl has maybe ever had during his tenure. The Tigers will be inside the Top 10 in most preseason polls. During the offseason, the Tigers added transfers Miles Kelly , JP Pegues and Ja’Heim Hudson to the roster, in addition to high school freshmen Tahaad Pettiford and Jahki Howard .

EXCLUSIVE INTEL FROM AUBURN SUMMER PRACTICE

According to KenPom analytics, here are Auburn’s most recent strength of schedule ratings:
2024: 60th
2023: 26th
2022: 41st
2021: 37th
2020: 62nd
2019: 11th
2018: 57th

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