Auburn Falls Short of Top Spot in the Latest AP Poll

A handful of votes stood between the Auburn Tigers and being voted the top team in the country

Auburn is inching close to being No. 1 / Marco Garcia-Imagn Images

As their undefeated start to the season continues, including becoming the third SEC program to win the Maui Invitational other than Kentucky and Vanderbilt, the Auburn Tigers made another jump in the AP Poll.

Auburn checks in at No. 2 this week - two spots higher than their previous ranking. The Tigers improved to 7-0 with a 90-76 win over Memphis in the Maui Invitational on Wednesday. Kansas edged out Auburn for the top spot by 11 votes.

Additionally, Auburn came in at No. 2 in the first NET rankings of the 2024-25 season. The Tigers also sit at No. 1 in KenPom. Auburn has four wins over Quad 1 opponents so far this season, it did not earn its first Quad 1 win until February last season.

Auburn is heading into its toughest challenge of the season so far, taking on the No. 9 Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Auburn is the highest-ranked of the eight SEC teams who were ranked in this week’s poll. The seven other SEC teams who checked into the top 25 this week: No. 3 Tennessee (+4), No. 4 Kentucky (+4), No. 10 Alabama (-1), No. 13 Florida (+5), No. 21 Oklahoma (no movement), No. 22 Texas A&M (-2) and No. 23 Ole Miss (no movement).

Four SEC teams are receiving votes: Arkansas (104), Texas (97), Mississippi State (20) and Georgia (10).

Apart from the Duke game, the Tigers have one other contest before the release of the next AP Poll. Auburn hosts Richmond on Sunday.

Auburn has 11 games against ranked opponents remaining on its schedule. Nine of them are against SEC opponents, the other two in order are No. 9 Duke and No. 8 Purdue.

Tip-off for Auburn’s game against Duke is set for 8:15 p.m. CT on ESPN. The Tigers’ game against Richmond is set for 11 a.m. CT on SEC Network.