Auburn’s Bruce Pearl teases ‘potential for a big game’ in Birmingham next season

HOOVER — Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl said in May the Tigers were going to play the toughest nonconference slate of his tenure this upcoming season.

With a trip out west already set for the Maui Invitational − an in-season tournament that features a field of Auburn, Colorado, Dayton, Iowa State, Memphis, Michigan State, North Carolina and UConn − and a matchup with Duke as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge scheduled, the Tigers will have their work cut out for them against non-SEC teams during the 2024-25 campaign.

And it doesn’t look like they’re satisfied yet, either.

“I don’t think we’re in any position to make any kind of announcement about a game in Birmingham yet. But I can tell you, we’ve got potential for a big game in Birmingham in December,” Pearl said Tuesday at an AMBUSH event at the Finley Center. “We’re working on it. Contracts, I don’t think are quite done. It’ll be a game and an opponent that we could actually sell the building out.”

HOOPS: Noting the few areas of concern for Auburn basketball in 2024-25; there aren’t many

FOOTBALL: What are realistic expectations for QB Payton Thorne in Year 2 at Auburn?

Aside from the scheduled bout with Duke and the Maui Invitational, which will feature the Tigers playing three of the teams in the field (the bracket has not yet been released), none of the other games on Auburn’s nonconference schedule have been announced.

What is known, however, is the locations for Auburn’s SEC games. The Tigers will host Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Their road tests will include trips to Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.

“Neville Arena is as tough of a ticket as there is in college basketball,” Pearl added. “I always hear from my friends in Birmingham, ‘Coach, we can’t get tickets.’ I tell them, ‘I know it’s hard, but we have these standing room only (tickets), and we’ve got things. Come on down. Believe me, you can get in. We’ll try not to turn you away.’

“But that’s why it’s important that we actually play games here in Birmingham. They’ve got a big arena, and we can get some tickets.”

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn basketball schedule: Tigers lining up big nonconference game