NEWS: Auburn Releases Full 2013-14 Schedule

Auburn has (finally) announced the full schedule for the 2013-14 men's basketball season.

Auburn begins their season with 5 straight games at home, starting with Nicholls State on Friday, November 8 at 7 pm CT. The Tigers then host Northwestern State (11/15), Jacksonville State (11/19), Murray State (11/23), and Tennessee State (11/26) throughout the rest of November.

The Tigers then take their show on the road for a couple of games, first against Iowa State in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on December 2, then traveling to Atlanta to face off against Illinois on December 8.

Finally, Auburn returns to Auburn Arena for their final four nonconference games: Clemson (12/19), Boston College (12/22), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (12/30), and Florida A&M (1/4).

Auburn opens the 2013-14 season with Nicholls State (Todd Van Emst)

NEWS: Auburn to Play Murray State on November 23

Another piece to Auburn's scheduling puzzle has been added today, as we have already learned about the Tigers' December 8 meeting with Illinois. Murray State unveiled their full schedule this week, showing that they will travel to Auburn Arena to take on the Tigers on Saturday, November 23. No time or TV has been set yet for the game.

This game was... not fun. (Joshua K.)

NEWS: Auburn-Illinois Set for December 8

The date for Auburn's rematch against the Illinois Fighting Illini this season has been revealed to be Sunday, December 8, according to the official Illnois schedule. The game will be played at Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA. There is currently no time or TV set for the game yet, but I expect we'll find out about that as the season draws near.

Asauhn Dixon-Tatum says "nope" to this shot. (Darrell Hoemann)

Weekly Recap: August 18-24, 2013

Scheduling was the big theme for last week, as we learned Auburn's entire SEC schedule as well as a couple of games against a couple of ACC schools. You can find all of the news here:

Full SEC Schedule Announced

After months of waiting, we finally know the when and where of Auburn's SEC schedule. This season ought to be exciting with some pretty huge home games for the Tigers.

Clemson, Boston College Dates Announced

The ACC also revealed their schedule last week, and with it came the dates and times of Auburn's home games against Clemson and Boston College.



Along with that exciting news, I ranked Auburn's 10 best SEC games, so be sure to check that out. There will likely be even more scheduling news and otherwise in the coming weeks, so keep it locked to the blog!

NEWS: Auburn to Play Clemson, Boston College in December

Clemson and Boston College unveiled their full schedules on Thursday afternoon, both revealing that they will travel to Auburn this December.

Auburn hosts Clemson first on Thursday, December 19 at 5 pm CT. This is the first game of a home and home series between the two schools, so Auburn will travel to Clemson, SC to take on the other Tigers next season. This is their first meeting since 1993, when former Auburn head coach Cliff Ellis was still coaching at Clemson.

The good Tigers will then host the Boston College Eagles on Sunday, December 22. No official game time has been decided upon as of right now. This game is a rematch of last year's non-bracketed Charleston Classic game, where Auburn fell 50-49 in Chestnut Hill.

Allen Payne showing the Eagles how it's done (Mark L. Baer)

Auburn's 10 Best SEC Games in 2014

The SEC unveiled the 2014 basketball schedules on Tuesday, meaning that we finally got our first look at Auburn's SEC schedule for this season. Now that we've all had plenty of time to pore over the fine details of the schedule, (which can be viewed here by the way) I decided to take it upon myself to rank the best 10 SEC games in the upcoming season. I ordered them based on an advanced formula of significance, excitement, and a host of other factors. It's science, people, trust me. Let's just jump right in with #10:

10. Mississippi State (2/15, 12:30 pm, SEC Network)

I know what you're thinking: "Mississippi State is one of the top SEC games? Lame!" And I agree, they are lame. Even still, you can't ignore the fact that 3 of the last 4 meetings between the Tigers and the Bulldogs were decided by exactly 3 points, meaning that you're on track for some exciting basketball when these two meet. My prediction? Auburn by 3.

9. at Florida (2/19, 6 pm, FSN)

I have our first road game of the bunch at #9, when the Tigers will find themselves in the good old O'Connell Center facing the Florida Gators. This one will be a tough out, but it took Florida breaking Kenny Gabriel's back to win the last time Auburn visited, so the Tigers may just have a chance to pull off the upset.

NEWS: SEC Schedule Announced

On Tuesday morning, the SEC announced its full TV schedule for the 2013-14 season, and man, does Auburn have an exciting home slate.

The Tigers have a very tough start to the SEC schedule, playing at Ole Miss on January 9, followed by Missouri at home on January 11, then traveling to Knoxville to face off against Tennessee on January 15, and then coming back home to play Florida on January 18. Whew.

In terms of home games, Auburn plays the aforementioned Missouri and Florida, as well as Alabama (Jan. 29), Georgia (Feb. 1), Kentucky (Feb. 12), Mississippi State (Feb. 15), Vanderbilt (Feb. 22), South Carolina (Feb. 26), and Tennessee (Mar. 5).

Auburn goes on the road to face Ole Miss, Tennessee, Mississippi State (Jan. 22), Arkansas (Jan. 25), South Carolina (Feb. 5), LSU (Feb. 8), Florida (Feb. 19), Alabama (Mar. 1), and Texas A&M (Mar. 8).

This of course means that Auburn plays Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi State, South Carolina, and Alabama twice this season, both at home on the road.

Auburn has three nationally televised games, as the Ole Miss game will be on ESPN or ESPN2 and the Missouri and Alabama games will be on ESPNU.

Overall, this is a great SEC schedule with a wealth of exciting home games. Look for more articles on Auburn's SEC games in the next few days, and be sure to keep it locked to the Schedule tab of the blog for even more non-conference updates!

Chris Denson is pumped about this year's SEC schedule. (Albert Cesare)

Weekly Recap: August 11-17, 2013

Last week a little piece of Auburn's schedule fell into place, and we finally got some video of Auburn in the Bahamas.

Big 12/SEC Challenge TV Schedule

The Big 12 and SEC announced the TV schedule for the inaugural Big 12/SEC Challenge, in which Auburn will play at Iowa State on December 2 at 6 pm CT on ESPNU.

Bahamas Trip Footage

Auburn Athletics put out a video with some clips from Auburn's trip to the Bahamas last week on their YouTube channel, and it's worth checking out.



By the way, be sure to check out the newly updated schedule and roster for this season on the tabs at the top of the page. Keep checking the blog this week for more news and updates on Auburn Tigers basketball!

Here's Some Footage from the Bahamas

Auburn Athletics' YouTube account posted a video on Wednesday with some footage from Auburn's trip to the Bahamas earlier this month. The video shows a little of the team relaxing and hanging out at the beach, but the real focus is the highlights from the Tigers' win over the Real Deal Shockers in their first game of the trip. Enjoy!

NEWS: TV Schedule for Big 12/SEC Challenge Announced

Though we knew the dates earlier this summer, the SEC has just announced the times and TV networks for all of the games in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

Auburn travels to Ames, IA to take on the Iowa State Cyclones at 6 pm CT on Monday, December 2 on ESPNU. There is one other game in the Challenge that night, as Vanderbilt plays at Texas at 8 pm CT on ESPN2.

This will undoubtedly be a tough one for the Tigers, as Iowa State has built up a really solid home court advantage over the last few years. Even still, if a few things go our way, look for Auburn to be able to pull out the upset.

Looking at the other, less important games, Alabama gets off easy (of course) by playing Texas Tech at home. The obvious headliners are the December 6 matchup between Kentucky and Baylor in Dallas, TX and the December 10 game between Kansas and Florida, both on ESPN. Personally, I am also looking forward to the West Virginia-Missouri game as well as the late Oklahoma-Texas A&M game in Houston, as those are two of the more even matchups in the event.

Weekly Recap: August 4-10, 2013

Last week was about as eventful as it gets for a college basketball team in the summer, as Auburn played not one, but two games during their trip to the Bahamas last week.

Auburn 99, Real Deal Shockers 63

Auburn started the trip strong with a big win over the NPBA's own Real Deal Shockers on Tuesday night, 99-63.

 

Auburn 88, Bahamas All-Stars 60

Auburn capped off their trip in a big way on Thursday evening with another blowout victory, this time over the Bahamas All-Stars, 88-60.




Though these games weren't against the stiffest of competition, it is still a great start to the 2013-14 season for our beloved Tigers. Stay tuned to the blog as we have some excited features and updates coming soon!

Auburn Perfect in Paradise, Beats Bahamas All-Stars 88-60

Auburn closed out their trip to the Bahamas on another positive note Thursday night with an 88-60 win over the Bahamas All-Stars.

Virginia transfer KT Harrell led the Tigers with 21 points, and Chris Denson once again had a big night with 19.

In other scoring news, freshman point guard Tahj Shamsid-Deen put up 9 points while senior Allen Payne and freshman Dion Wade had 8 apiece.

Allen Payne had a solid evening with 8 points (AuburnTigers.com)

It was also a big night for the Tigers' big men in terms of rebounding: Asauhn Dixon-Tatum grabbed 9 boards off the glass while newcomers Benas Griciunas and Matthew Atewe both had 6.

This was the second and final game for Auburn on their trip to the Bahamas: the Tigers also took down the Real Deal Shockers on Tuesday night. We will likely find out who they will play next very soon, as Auburn will reveal their full schedule in the coming weeks.

Auburn Defeats Real Deal Shockers 99-63

In their first game in the Bahamas on Tuesday night, the Auburn Tigers took down the mysterious Real Deal Shockers 99-63.

The starters for the first exhibition game of the 2013-14 season were Malcolm Canada, KT Harrell, Chris Denson, Jordon Granger, and Asauhn Dixon-Tatum.

Both Chris Denson and newcomer Chris Griffin scored more than 20 points, with Denson putting up a game high of 24 by the end of the night. Most of Griffin's points came from behind the arc, as he hit 6 three-pointers during the game.

In other scoring news, new guys (I'm going to be saying that a lot) Malcolm Canada and Tahj Shamsid-Deen had 11 and 9 points, respectively.

ADT being his ridiculously tall self (AuburnTigers.com)

Tonight's game was the first of two for the Tigers in the Bahamas. Their second and final game of the trip will be against the Bahamas All-Stars and take place on Thursday night at 6 pm CT.

Who the @#$% Are the Real Deal Shockers?!

This is probably a question you've been asking since Auburn announced their trip to the Bahamas. So naturally, I scoured the internet for everything I could find about the 2013-14 Tigers' first opponent. (and other info on who and where Auburn will be playing)

The Real Deal Shockers play in the Vince Ferguson Division of the New Providence Basketball Association (NPBA), which is a branch of the Bahamas Basketball Federation. (I had a hard time finding anything out about the BBF because their web domain has expired, so I apologize) In the Vince Ferguson Division, the Shockers are pitted against fierce competition like the Mailboat Cybots and the Double R. Services Ltd. Cleaners. The more I read about this league, the more it starts to sound like the Sharknado of basketball leagues, which makes it the most awesome basketball league to ever come to this earth. (Just look at their official website!)

According to the league website, our beloved Shockers had a pretty solid season last year, going 10-6 overall, which was good enough to earn them second place in the Vince Ferguson Division behind only the dreaded Mailboat Cybots.

The only picture of the Shockers I could find. (Kelsie Johnson)

Weekly Recap: July 28-August 3, 2013

This week was (once again) a little light on the news, other than the Tigers having a safe flight to the Bahamas on Friday. I guess that's summertime for a basketball blog for you.

However, I did write one blog post last week that I felt was necessary, so here it is if you're interested.

(Lacasse Photography)

10 Reasons to Be Excited for 2013-14

That's right, here are my reasons why you should be pumped for next basketball season, even though things may not look too bright right now. Check it out!




So that's basically it for now, but I'll have a bunch of stuff this week as the Tigers will play in two exhibition games this week in the Bahamas! Keep checking the blog for updates!