CBS Ranks Auburn Basketball Top 25 Caliber Heading Into Next Season

The Auburn Tigers matched their best result in March Madness with a run to the Final Four last season. However, expectations are dampened a bit heading into next season. After losing their entire rotation this past offseason, minus guard Tahaad Pettiford, CBS ranks the Tigers on the second highest tier of their SEC rankings. 

These are what CBS has labeled as Top-25 caliber teams. The other teams within this tier are the Tennessee Volunteers, the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Alabama Crimson Tide. In the top tier are the Kentucky Wildcats and the Florida Gators. 

It shows how much key players can make a difference in expectations. 

The others that are projected to join him in the starting lineup are guard Kevin Overton, forward Keyshawn Hall, forward Filip Jovic and forward KeShawn Murphy. Overton, Hall and Murphy were all incoming transfers (UCF, Texas Tech and Mississippi State respectively).

Two other important additions were guard Abdul Bashir and center Emeka Operum. The two both were massive players in the JUCO scene. As long as they can translate their success to the SEC game, they should be fine playing in the physicality of the best conference of basketball.  

The only question mark is the team chemistry. Pettiford is the only one who has an idea of what Bruce Pearl expects from his teams, and he is only a sophomore. It will take time for the pieces to come together and start to mesh. Some fans may need to hold if they don’t expect immediate success considering that fact. 

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