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2025 Auburn Tigers Basketball Predictions and Odds to Win National Championship

by Ryan Cobbett - 10/27/2025

Auburn Tigers basketball predictions Tahaad Pettiford

It’s no secret that the Auburn Tigers were one of the best teams in the country last season. They finished the regular season with a 27-4 record while finishing SEC play with a 15-3 record. They opened up the season with a seven-game winning streak, picking up key wins against #4 Houston, #5 Iowa State, #12 UNC, and Memphis before they lost to #9 Duke. After that loss to the Blue Devils, Auburn proceeded to win their next 14 games with five of those victories coming against ranked teams. All in all, the Tigers went 10-4 against ranked opponent’s last season. After ending the regular season on a two-game skid, the Tigers snuck past Ole Miss in the SEC Quarterfinals before falling in the Semifinals to Tennessee. Despite the earlier than expected exit in the conference tournament, Auburn earned a top seed in March Madness. They beat 16-Seed Alabama State by 20 in the first round, 9-Seed Creighton by 12 in the second round, 5-Seed Michigan by 13 in the Sweet 16, and 2-Seed Michigan State by six in the Elite Eight. Unfortunately, their dominant run in March ended in the Final Four as 1-Seed Florida beat the Tigers by six.

The Tigers average 83 PPG last season which ranked fifth in the conference. They shot 47.6% as a team while shooting nearly 36% from beyond on the arc. Their defense was elite as they held opponents to just 69.4 PPG while teams shot just 40.8%. Auburn’s true strength was their perimeter defense as opponents just 29.8% from beyond the arc against the Tigers. Auburn’s +13.5 PPG differential and +6.8% FG% differential was second in the conference behind Florida while their +6.0 3P% differential ranked fourth. Johni Broome was the best player in the country last season as he averaged 18.6 PPG, 10.8 RPG, and 2.1 BPG. He shot 51% and averaged over 30 MPG for Auburn. Chad Baker-Mazara was second on the team with 12.3 PPG with Tahaad Pettiford (11.6 PPG), Miles Kelly (11.3 PPG), and Denver Jones (10.9 PPG) followed. Jones was the biggest three-point threat as he finished the season with a 41.1% 3P%.

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Key Additions/Losses

The biggest loss of the offseason is in former head coach Bruce Pearl who has retired and has his son stepping into his place as the head bench coach for the Tigers. Broome, Kelly, and Jones have all left for professional endeavors leaving Pettiford as the biggest returning piece of last year’s squad. Baker-Mazara has transferred from the program to join the USC Trojans. Depth piece Jahki Howard found a new home with Utah while JP Pegues remains in the portal.

The incoming class for Auburn is quite large. They signed Elyjah Freeman from Lincoln Memorial, Kevin Overton who averaged 7.8 PPG at Texas Tech, KeShawn Murphy who averaged 11.7 PPG for fellow SEC Mississippi State. Keyshawn Hall is the biggest addition for Auburn via the transfer portal as he is now with his fourth team in four years and is coming off a big season for UCF where he averaged 18.8 PPG and 7.1 RPG. They also have a big group of incoming freshmen. They signed six high school prospects, five of those six being four-star prospects. They signed Sebastian Williams-Adams, Kaden Magwood, Abdul Bashir, Simon Walker, and Filip Jovic while also adding three-star center Emeka Opurum.

X-Factors

Elite Play- Auburn was the best team in the country over the course of the regular season and though they did not win the national championship, they arguably had the best starting five in the nation. Now they are missing nearly every single piece from that elite group. Broome, who was the best player in college basketball last season, is gone while Baker-Mazara, left for another school. Aside from the return of Pettiford and the addition of Hall, there is reason to doubt the elite capabilities of the Auburn Tigers this season. Unless one of these high school prospects bursts onto the scene as a top player not only in the locker room, but in the nation, then Auburn is due for a big time fall back to earth this season.

Notable Games

Home - #14 Arkansas, #15 Alabama

Away/Neutral - #2 Houston, #7 Michigan, @ #13 Arizona, #1 Purdue, @ #3 Florida, @ #18 Tennessee, @ #14 Arkansas, @ #15 Alabama

Key Odds/Rankings:

NCAA Champion: +4000

Conference Winner: +1800

AP Top 25- 20th

Andy Katz’s Power 37- 27th

2025 Auburn Tigers Predictions

With the schedule the way it is and the absence of a Broome-like star on this roster, stay away from Auburn. The schedule is ridiculously tough as they have nonconference matchups against Houston, Michigan, Arizona, and Purdue and then transitioning into the SEC schedule. There will be no breaks in the schedule and little to no time for the transfers and freshmen to gel together. While this may prepare this squad in the years to come with the freshmen gaining some big-time minutes right away in their careers, it does not bode well for them this year. Auburn is not going to be the same dominant team from a year ago so stay away and don’t be tempted by the name.

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