Auburn Tigers News: KenPom, AP Poll released and Hugh Freeze's message to recruits

In today's edition of Auburn Tigers News, we look at where Auburn basketball is ranked in preseason lists and Hugh Freeze details his message to recruits

With basketball season just around the corner, preseason polls are being released in anticipation. Earlier this week, two preseason lists were released, and they painted pretty different pictures of Auburn basketball.

The first to drop was the KenPom preseason rankings, and Auburn basketball landed at spot #3 behind Houston at #1 and Duke at #2. Alabama takes the fourth spot, followed by UConn, Kansas, Iowa State, Arizona, Gonzaga, and Purdue to round out the top ten.

Monday morning the first preseason AP Poll was released, and Bruce Pearl's Tigers were voted into the #11 spot, just missing the top ten. The Tigers are the second-most highly-ranked SEC team behind Alabama, who was given the #2 spot. #11 is Auburn's highest ranking in the preseason since the 2018-2019 season, in which the Tigers went all the way to the Final Four.

Hugh Freeze details his message to recruits in the 2025 class

It's been a tough season for head coach Hugh Freeze and the Auburn football team. Despite bringing in a top-ten recruiting class ahead of this season, the Tigers have struggled to get positive results on the field and have yet to win a conference matchup.

Auburn football is aiming to have a top-five recruiting class this year, and is currently sitting at #3 overall, but will the repeated losses hurt the recruiting efforts? Time and again current Auburn commits have reaffirmed their belief in the future of the program and it's been made clear that they are buying into the rebuild.

For Freeze, the message to recruits in the class of 2025 is simple: "We've proven we can [play for national titles]. We've got the resources. Now let's get the roster."