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Auburn Basketball: 2021-22 season preview and outlook for Tigers

LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 19: The Auburn Tigers logo on a pair of shorts during a first round game of Maui Invitational college basketball game against the Xavier Musketeers at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 19, 2018 in Lahaina Hawaii. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 19: The Auburn Tigers logo on a pair of shorts during a first round game of Maui Invitational college basketball game against the Xavier Musketeers at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 19, 2018 in Lahaina Hawaii. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
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Auburn Basketball head coach Bruce Pearl Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Auburn Basketball head coach Bruce Pearl Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

2021-22 season outlook

Bruce Pearl and Auburn basketball will look to return to the NCAA Tournament squad he’s been used to over the past few seasons. The 2020-21 season was the first time the Tigers missed the Big Dance since 2017, snapping a three-year run. There was a ton of adversity to deal with in 2020-21, including the Sharife Cooper debacle, but moving forward, Auburn basketball looks ready to be a top team in the NCAA basketball ranks once again in 2021-22.

They’ll have to adjust to a new-look starting rotation but with a ton of experience off the bench, Coach Pearl has a solid contingency plan in place should guys succumb to injury or otherwise.

The Battle 4 Atlantis will be a good measuring stick for how good this team will be after the Tigers’ first set of home games. After that, it should be smooth sailing into the SEC basketball schedule, where they’ll look to finish a lot better than last season’s result.

Auburn basketball dropped six of their last nine games of the regular season schedule in 2020-21. If they can avoid that and string together some strong wins in conference action, they should find themselves comfortably in the NCAA Tournament field.