NCAA Basketball: Ranking the final 10 unbeaten teams for 2022-23 season

5. Auburn

There’s no question that Auburn is good, and this certainly isn’t the first good team that Bruce Pearl has put together. The Tigers are 8-0 and have been successful early, though it’s easy to argue that they’ve been far less tested than many of the other ranked teams in the current Top 25.

Auburn’s most significant competition has been Northwestern and Saint Louis and their offense were pretty bad in both games. They won a 43-42 slugfest over the Wildcats in Cancun, leaning heavily on their defense in both of these wins. They’ve yet to play a true road game and some of their other wins include Bradley, Colgate, and George Mason; not exactly a murderer’s row of opposition.

Point guard Wendell Green Jr. (13.4 ppg) is the leading scorer early a Tigers team still figuring out its offensive identity. John Broome, who transferred from Morehead State, has been a fantastic addition in the frontcourt, while players like K. D. Johnson and Dylan Cardwell have done well with their opportunities. Auburn has potential here, especially if freshman Yohan Traore can continue to develop his game in the coming months.

Looking forward, it’s obvious that conference play will pose a much more significant challenge for the Tigers, but they certainly don’t have to wait that long to be tested. They’ve got an exciting matchup with Memphis this upcoming weekend and have a road trip to USC and Washington later in the month. If Auburn is still undefeated when SEC play begins in three weeks, then maybe this team is for real. Either way, Pearl knows what he’s doing and you can only hope their offensive shortcomings don’t cost them in the future.