Auburn a Contender in 2026 After Roster Rebuild

Despite an almost complete roster overhaul, the Auburn Tigers are seen as one of the top teams in the country for the 2025-26 season.

The Tigers saw SEC Player of the Year Johni Broome and captain Dylan Cardwell use up all of their collegiate eligibility and star guard Chad Baker-Mazara to the transfer portal while being extremely active in both the high school ranks and NCAA Transfer Portal with nine new players set to join the fold.

Discussing the future of Auburn basketball, as well as rival Alabama, college basketball podcaster Lance Taylor and college basketball writer Jim Dunaway has high expectations for the Tigers.

" Well, when you know who the established coach is, and every single year, they have success. You've got that with Bruce (Pearl), you've got that with (Alabama coach Nate Oats)," Taylor said on The Next Round. "Bruce has been to two Final Fours, Nate from a Final Four to a Regional Final last year, you just figure these guys know how to assemble the roster, and they already got a good, solid core to begin with."

Dunaway went even farther to say that he believes Auburn will be seen as the superior team in the state heading into next season.

"I think Auburn will be perceived in the preseason as at least an Elite Eight roster, and I think Alabama will be perceived in the preseason as at least a Sweet 16 roster," Dunaway said. "Now, I don't think either fan base will happy if they only go to the Sweet 16 and the other to the Elite Eight, but I think that's how the perception will be of these two teams when we tip things off in November is that Alabama will be slightly behind Auburn on the roster scale."