With the 2025 football season still three Saturdays away, Auburn basketball has announced a stellar early-season roundball matchup.
Two Final Four teams from the 2025 season will meet to start the 2025-2026 season. It is Auburn vs. Houston in Birmingham’s Legacy Arena.
In the SEC, the early non-conference matchups are often ho-hum affairs awaiting the advent of real basketball with the SEC schedule, starting in January. This year, that won’t happen.
With football’s Iron Bowl still yet to be played, Auburn basketball will return the spotlight to its relatively new basketball prowess.
On Sunday, November 16, the Houston Cougars come to Birmingham to take on the Auburn Tigers. Both teams earned Final Four berths in 2025.
A pre-sale for those who sign up online starts Tuesday, August 19—sales to the general public start August 20. Tickets are expected to sell out quickly. Learn more here.
While Birmingham’s Legacy Arena is technically a neutral court, Auburn is just down the road via Highway 280 0r I-65/85. Expect to see a predominance of orange in the stands.
In the Final Four, both teams eventually lost but acquitted themselves quite well. Auburn lost to eventual national champion Florida 79-73 in the semi-finals. Houston made it to the championship game by defeating Duke 70-67 in the semis. Houston then lost the final game to Florida 65-63.
Auburn beat Houston 74-69 in the early portion of the 2024-2025 season on a "neutral court" in Houston, the Toyota Center.
Some college basketball coaches use early-season intersectional matchups as sort of practice games, tuning up for the “real” season that starts in January. They schedule cream puff games. Auburn coach Bruce Pearl does not do that. The Houston matchup is an example of how he challenges his team early. A little taste of Final Four level early can help build a competitive team that could compete on the high level they have grown to expect. One or both of these teams could return to the 2026 Final Four.
Houston, we have a problem.
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler’s beat is the colorful and positive about Alabama -- her people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at [email protected].
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