Auburn basketball assigned marquee matchup for second year of ACC/SEC Challenge | Report

AUBURN — The 2024-25 Auburn basketball schedule is slowly coming together.

The Tigers, who won 27 games last season, will play at Duke in the second edition of the ACC/SEC Challenge, according to a report Wednesday from Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports. The in-season series between the two conferences began last year, and coach Bruce Pearl’s team took care of business with a 74-57 home win over Virginia Tech in November.

Auburn’s victory against the Hokies was one of seven triumphs the SEC enjoyed. The ACC matched that total, as the challenge resulted in a tie during its inaugural season. Notable results last campaign included Kentucky topping Miami, Clemson dropping Alabama and North Carolina getting by Tennessee. Arkansas also earned an upset victory over Duke.

Ahead of his squad’s road game against Arkansas last season, Pearl discussed how winning that game could improve Auburn’s standing in the hierarchy of the conference. In turn, that would help the Tigers get better opponents in the ACC/SEC Challenge moving forward.

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“Look, there’s an edge. There’s clearly an edge to this game with us and Arkansas,” Pearl said Jan. 4. “Obviously, we’ve had some tight contests before. But I’ll give you an example: I think over the last five to seven years, I think Auburn has been one of the better teams in the SEC. I believe that’s the case. Arkansas played Duke in he ACC Challenge. They got Duke at home. Arkansas did. Look, Arkansas has gone to the NCAA Tournament, they’ve gone to a couple Elite Eights.

“Auburn didn’t get Duke. Auburn didn’t get North Carolina. Auburn didn’t get Virginia. Auburn didn’t get Miami. Arkansas did. Tennessee got North Carolina. Kentucky got Miami. Texas A&M got Virginia. So, unless we can go on the road and beat a team like Arkansas, we’re going to get Virginia Tech and they’re going to get Duke.”

The…

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Author : The Montgomery Advertiser

Publish date : 2024-06-12 18:23:11

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