AUBURN, Ala. – Coming off a historic season in which Auburn won the SEC league title for the first time since 1999-2000 and made it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003, the expectations are understandably high for the upcoming season.
It doesn't hurt that the Tigers return the majority of that roster, plus add the likes of Austin Wiley, Danjel Purifoy, Samir Doughty and J'Von McCormick to the corps that's returning.
With all that in mind, head coach Bruce Pearl wanted to challenge his squad early with a difficult non-conference schedule. He saw how much last year's slate – playing at Murray State and Dayton, playing Middle Tennessee State in Birmingham – helped prepare Auburn for league play and improve their postseason resume. And if anything, he wanted to make it even more strenuous this year.
"The schedule is ambitious," Pearl said. "We've got a good team. On paper, it's one of the better teams that I've had coming back. That said, there are nine or 10 teams in the SEC that are as good or better than we are maybe. It's as good a league as I've seen in a long, long time.
"But I did feel like we needed a tough non-conference schedule to prepare us. And then we're sold out of season tickets, and so to be able to bring Dayton in, to bring Murray State in, to bring Washington out of the Pac-12 onto campus – those are just the home games. And then go to Birmingham and play UAB where we really need a good turnout. To go to NC State and then bring them back the following year.
"It's good. It's challenging. And it's what our fan base deserves."
That's not to mention the Maui Invitational and an eight-team field that has combined for six national titles, 27 Final Four appearances and 197 conference regular season and tournament championships. The Tigers open play against a Xavier team that's made 12 of the last 13 NCAA Tournaments. Then it's either Duke or San Diego State in the second round.
"We're just looking forward to the whole tournament," senior guard Bryce Brown said. "I feel like there are a lot of good teams in there. It's a good opportunity. The whole schedule is a good opportunity."
Brown has become accustomed to playing other Power 5 teams out of conference and playing on the road in venues that other SEC teams might not travel to.
Since Pearl has been the coach, Auburn has played home-and-homes with Xavier, Clemson, Connecticut, Colorado, Middle Tennessee State, Murray State, UAB, Dayton and Coastal Carolina. Beginning this year, you can add Washington and NC State to that list. The Tigers have also played programs like Purdue, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Boston College at neutral-site locations.
"In past seasons, people tried to criticize us for our non-conference schedule and we had to prove it in SEC play," Brown said. "We can actually have a chance to play against those top-tier teams that are good in their conference every single year. We're looking to prove people wrong, and I feel like with this year's non-conference schedule, we're able to get ready for SEC play even better and just keep it rolling."
Brown and his teammates already put Auburn on the map with their success last season. Now it's about making believers out of people.
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @greg_ostendorf