The Auburn Tigers didn't get the result they wanted after being swept by the Ole Miss Rebels in the NCAA Super Regional round at Plainsman Park this weekend. Butch Thompson sounds confident he'll be getting what he wants this offseason, though.
As the sport continues to shift to one built on mass transfer portal movement every season, akin to MLB free agency in many ways, with no salary cap to curb spending, Thompson flexed that his Tigers will be retaining their players and giving it another go in 2027.
“Keeping them in mind first, call it the nucleus or whatever you want to call it,” Thompson said. “We’ll start meeting with guys tomorrow afternoon, into Monday, so hopefully by the end of Monday, we’ll be through that. We’ve already started having a few guys in, but the nucleus is first.
“You’re not going to hear just all portal, portal, portal. And people who are doing that are older clubs that don’t have a choice. I feel like we’re doing a good job of getting them here, developing them, growing them. It’s an amazing sophomore class, and we had some freshmen help us again. And so being true to those guys and taking care of those guys properly, instead of them feeling like they got somebody over the top of them. We need to add complimentary pieces that would fill in what we lose.”
Butch Thompson made 2026 count for Auburn with Regional round magic
Thompson failed to reach his third Men's College World Series and didn't get necessarily all that close in the team's two losses to the Rebels. With that said, the team made endless memories in the team's spectacular comeback from a Regional round-opening loss to the Milwaukee Panthers, knocking off all three teams (and getting its lick back against Milwaukee twice) to advance to the Super Regional round.
Thompson spoke about how special it was to win four straight on the Plains last weekend to make this weekend even happen.
“The series we won on the road, last week was absolutely hard and tremendous at the same time. I was expecting it again, to be honest with you, but I’ve enjoyed since August with this team as much as anyone, I’ve been a part of. So, I guess I’ve told them, but I guess to make it public, I thank them," Thompson said.
Plainsman Park saw more visitors than ever this weekend. With football recruits like 4-star running back Kingston Miles, 3-star cornerback Aidyn Wiggins, and 4-star EDGE James Pace III visiting, they saw more enthusiasm in Auburn than usual. Hell, there were fans watching baseball from the walkways at the top of Jordan-Hare Stadium.
What the baseball team just gave the city was worth it all. The hoopla brought the feeling back with college sports. Even the Milwaukee upset, which feels like something that used to happen during March Madness but increasingly feels impossible.
Thompson's team was a major bright spot during the Tigers' 2025-26 academic calendar. They represented AU proudly, even if they fell short of the ultimate goal.
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