Furman to Provide Auburn With Solid Tune Up Opportunity

The Auburn Tigers will have chance to get prepared for the regular season with their matchup against Furman

The Auburn Tigers will start their season with an exhibition game against Furman / Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Tipoff is not far away for the Auburn Tigers who officially begin the 2024-25 season at home against Vermont on Nov. 6. However, the Tigers will have two opportunities to face off against another team before then.

The first takes place this weekend as the Tigers travel up to Greenville, S.C. to take on Furman at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Sunday.

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl, heading into his 11th season with the program, believes this opportunity will pay dividends for the team going into the season.

“We don’t know what we don’t know, and we’re going to find out a lot about ourselves in the next week with the game on Sunday at Furman,” Pearl said. “Just want to thank the NCAA for another great rule change… allowing us to play a division one opponent and allowing us to play these games in front of the public.”

Pearl knows that Furman will provide Auburn with a challenge. That is a large part of the reason he selected this game as one of Auburn’s chances to tune some things up before officially starting the season.

“Why Furman? Because Bob Richey is a great offensive coach,” Pearl said. “They’re going to have pretty good talent. They’re always one of the best teams in the SoCon. They’re going to have a nice crowd over there and it’ll be a really good environment for us to go to and we’ll be challenged.”

Despite this game not counting toward Auburn’s record or stats for the season, Pearl emphasized that the Tigers will be going all out and treating their contest against Furman like a normal game.

“One thing I made sure the guys do is circle Vermont, that’s the one that counts, but these games matter too,” Pearl said. “We’re gonna keep the score and we’ll see how we do. I’m not going to be experimenting; I’m going to be doing everything I can to win these games.

Tipoff between Auburn and Furman is set for 12 p.m. CT on Saturday. However, there is no television or radio broadcast.