After losing to Florida in a tightly-contested Final Four matchup, things haven’t been great for Auburn. Bruce Pearl’s squad suffered a flurry of absences, with players either graduating, declaring for the draft, or entering the transfer portal. Some of it, we knew was going to happen, but the departure of Chad Baker-Mazara was completely left-field for Auburn fans.
Having suffered blow after blow in the past few weeks, the Tigers are in an injured state, and analysts are taking note. Even though Pearl has been focusing heavily on recruitment and player development, signs of weakness have become visible, and we all know just how ruthless analysts and reporters actually are.
In the newest version of the 2025-26 pre-season predictions by CBS, Bruce Pearl has found himself and his Tigers knocked off the pedestals they were on. Even after a Final Four trip, and a close game against the now defending champions, Auburn didn’t even make the top 10!
Gary Parrish, a columnist for CBS, shared this list on X. Surprisingly enough, it even put Florida, the NCAA champions, outside of the first ten teams. There was a definite shock factor in this preseason rankings list, but their reasoning is quite solid.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL RANKINGS: The 2025-26 @CBSSports preseason Top 25 And 1 has been updated to reflect recent developments.
Version 7
1. Houston
2. Purdue
3. UConn
4. BYU
5. Texas Tech
6. Duke
7. UCLA
8. Arizona
9. Michigan
10. Iowa Statehttps://t.co/IzBlzt839S
— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) April 18, 2025
With Baker-Mazara’s exit, Pearl lost all of his starters– Johni Broome, Denver Jones, Dylan Cardwell, and Miles Kelly, all have given their parting messages. So Parrish, in his article, argued that only one Auburn core member might return. Tahaad Pettiford has also declared for the NBA draft, but there are still chances of him withdrawing as he hasn’t foregone his remaining eligibility. The six-foot-one freshman hit some crucial shots during this past season for Auburn, and an opportunity to welcome him back would be amazing for the fans!
Even though the reasoning is solid, having a Final Four team at #18, and the champions at #14 still raise some important questions. One doubt that everyone has is how will Bruce Pearl fill in the gaps left behind by the recent off-season departures?
Auburn’s plight lessens as Bruce Pearl goes all in on the off-season
There are two ways to look at this ranking, but what it does indicate is that Auburn is not out of contention just yet. Even after losing NPOY candidate Johni Broome, Cardwell, and a lot of important pieces, the Tigers are still in CBS’ top-25. And we’re sure that they will keep on climbing!
The thing is, Bruce Pearl will not take these departures lying down. As the Auburn head coach, Pearl has a certain resilience inside him–a continuous fire to win. And it has definitely reflected in his off-season recruitment!
Over the past few days, Auburn has solidified its upcoming roster with a few crucial moves. First of all, they snagged Keyshawn Hall from UCF, KeShawn Murphy from Mississippi State, and Kevin Overton from Texas Tech. But Bruce Pearl’s vision doesn’t stop at the D1 level!
The program scouted and picked up a few crucial pieces from JUCO, namely Abdul Bashir and Emeka Opurum. Talent from different levels has shined bright with Auburn in the past, so these pickups were quite exciting! It will be interesting to see how this new-look Tigers team performs in this coming season. They have a couple of interesting freshman recruits coming in, but the focus will be solely on Bruce Pearl. Will he be able to defy expectations and make another deep playoff run? Only time will tell.
The post Nothing Is the Same With Auburn as CBS Broadcaster Adds Insult to Injury After Bruce Pearl’s Transfer Portal Setback appeared first on EssentiallySports.