NCAA Basketball Power Rankings: Ole Miss climbs, North Carolina dips

12. Auburn Tigers

Record: 12-3 (1-1 SEC)

Last Week: No. 8

Auburn is clearly one of the most talented teams in the country this season but they are yet to truly prove it. In fact, their best win to date is a victory at home over a bubble team in Washington. They are also 0-3 against teams ranked in the KenPom top-40 due to losses at the hands of Duke, NC State, and Ole Miss. So, based on their current resume, it is more than reasonable to be wary of projecting Auburn too high nationally.

But with the SEC schedule heating up, there are plenty of opportunities coming up for the Tigers to snag high-quality wins. Most notably, they will hopefully be able to take advantage of matchups against Kentucky, Mississippi State, Florida, Tennessee, etc. etc. There will simply be so many chances for Auburn to add high-quality wins throughout the rest of the season that it is hard to imagine the team not snagging at least a few W’s.

In order for Auburn to take the next step this season, though, they need to do a better job defending the inside. Despite the fact that the Tigers allow opponents to shoot just 48.3% from 2-point range (109th nationally), they rank in the bottom half of the nation in defensive rebounding percentage and opponent free throw attempt rate.