The Auburn basketball program continues to make history this season. For the first time in program history, the Auburn Tigers are the unanimous No. 1 pick in the AP Poll. It is the second week in a row the Tigers have been ranked in the top spot after continuing to go undefeated in conference play.
With 10 quad-1 wins under their belts in the first 18 games of the season, head coach Bruce Pearl's squad has built up the best resume in college basketball, and they continue to show why they are the best of the best.
In the last two games, the Tigers faced ranked opponents and beat them without their best player and National Player of the Year contender Johni Broome. Auburn basketball has lost only one game this season to Duke on the road.
The Tigers are one of nine programs in the SEC that are ranked this week alongside No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Florida, No. 6 Tennessee, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 14 Mississippi State, No. 16 Ole Miss, and No. 22 Missouri. The Tigers have beaten two of those teams, but will still have to face the other six.
Auburn basketball has beaten six of this week's Top 25 teams: No. 3 Iowa State, No. 7 Houston, No. 11 Purdue, No. 14 Mississippi State, No. 22 Missouri and No. 24 Memphis.
"Now, we get ready to start the toughest conference schedule in the history of college basketball," Pearl said in January after the Tigers finished non-conference play. "Like, there's maybe never been a league like this, and it's going to be, the strong are literally going to be the only ones who survive. Hungry, healthy, humble is the way to get through it. Matchups are going to matter. We're going to lose games. But we can't let a loss affect us the next time out. We've got to be beat instead of beating ourselves. But we're healthy and we're ready."
The Tigers will return to action in Neville Arena this Saturday to host ESPN College GameDay and take on the Tennessee Volunteers.