Auburn basketball

The Southeastern Conference has a big week ahead, with four games between ranked teams, headlined by No. 6 Tennessee at top-ranked Auburn on Saturday. The Tigers moved into to the No. 1 spot for the second time in program history a week ago and remained there after a chaotic week in which 19 AP Top 25 teams lost at least once.

Auburn has climbed to No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s basketball poll for its second stint at the top in program history. Bruce Pearl’s Tigers claimed 60 of 62 first-place votes to rise one spot Monday. Auburn had been No. 1 once before during a three-week stint in 2022.

Tennessee remained No. 1 for the second consecutive week, though Auburn has closed the gap at No. 2. The top five were unchanged in the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll. The second-ranked Tigers picked up nine first-place votes from last week. Iowa State, Duke and Kentucky round out the top five.

Kansas strengthened its grip on No. 1 in the AP Top 25. The rest of the top 10 turned into a jumble of teams swapping places. The Jayhawks picked up five first-place votes in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, receiving 49 from a 61-person media panel. No. 2 UConn, No. 3 Gonzaga and No. 4 Auburn all received votes. The shuffling started with No. 8 Alabama’s loss to No. 6 Purdue, a game that dropped the Crimson Tide six spots and bumped the Boilermakers up seven. Losses by Duke and Arizona shook up the top 10.

The Auburn Tigers open the season with high expectations, especially with the return of All-Southeastern Conference big man Johni Broome. The Tigers rank 11th in the preseason AP Top 25 and are picked to finish second in the SEC.

Auburn basketball Bruce Pearl is drawing criticism from the Alabama NAACP following reported comments about Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Auburn University assistant basketball coach Chuck Person has avoided prison in a bribery scandal that has touched some of the…