Jan. 8, 2018
By Greg Ostendorf
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. -- Welcome back to the Top 25, Auburn basketball.
After wins over No. 23 Tennessee and No. 22 Arkansas in the same week, Auburn debuted at No. 22 in this week's AP Top 25. It's the first time the Tigers have been ranked since Jan. 20, 2003 and the highest they've been ranked since they were No. 19 on Feb. 28, 2000.
At 14-1, this is Auburn's best start since the 1999-2000 season (16-1). The Tigers are currently riding a 12-game winning streak, the second-longest active streak in college basketball (West Virginia, 14). It's the sixth-longest winning streak in program history and the longest since winning 14 straight during that same 1999-2000 season.
"We're having a really good year right now, but I think it's been something that we've been building towards," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said.
Though this is the first time Auburn has been ranked under Pearl, you can just look at this week's AP poll and see the programs the Tigers have knocked off over the years - programs like Texas Tech (No. 8), Oklahoma (No. 9), Xavier (No. 10) and TCU (No. 16). If you include the other two SEC teams in the poll, Kentucky (No. 21) and Tennessee (No. 24), Auburn has beaten six teams in this week's AP Top 25 since Pearl arrived in 2014.
However, all accolades aside, there's still plenty of basketball left to be played.
"It puts a bigger target on our head," Pearl said after Saturday's game. "A win over Auburn is worth way more to the opponent. But our goals are bigger than being nationally ranked sometime in January. This team's goals are bigger, and so we're just going to focus on that."
This week, No. 22 Auburn hosts Ole Miss on Tuesday (8 p.m. CT, ESPNU) and then travels to Mississippi State on Saturday (2:30 p.m. CT, SEC Network).
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @greg_ostendorf