AUBURN, Ala. – Winners of 67 consecutive home nonconference games, Auburn looks to extend the nation’s longest active such streak Wednesday when the Tigers host Southeastern Louisiana in Tipoff on The Plains.
“Now it counts,” said Steven Pearl on the eve of his second season as Auburn’s head coach. “I would encourage all our students to get here and be rowdy and give our guys the energy they need to go out there and perform because I know they’re really excited about. I would encourage people to pack this place out.”
The Tigers play their first three games of the 2026-27 season at home, hosting Appalachian State next Monday and No. 5 Arizona on Friday, Nov. 13.
“I would encourage everyone to come out for these first three because we’re playing three really good opponents,” Pearl said. “You ask any of these kids why they came here, it’s because they want to play in Neville Arena in front of the Jungle and in front of these fans. That’s one of the biggest separators for our basketball program.”
Southeastern Louisiana returns only two players from a team that went 9-22 a year ago.
Disregard that record, says Pearl, and look at Monday’s chaotic college basketball results that included Oklahoma losing at home to East Texas A&M.
“You see how good a lot of these teams are, how anybody can complete and anybody can beat anybody,” Pearl said. “Our guys have to come in with a level of urgency. We’ve got to be prepared for their best shot, understanding that they’re going to be really excited about this one, and we’ve got to match that intensity and match that excitement.”
Wednesday’s opener marks the Auburn debut for 7-footers Narcisse Ngoy and Bukky Oboye.
“They have a chance to take this team as far as we want to go,” Pearl said, stressing the need for physicality. “That’s going to be a formula we have to figure out because if those guys can continue to progress and get better every single game, our ceiling is much higher.”
Auburn and Southeastern Louisiana tip off at 7 p.m. CT on SECN+ and the Auburn Sports Network, where Andy Burcham and Randall Dickey will call the action for listeners.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer