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Tigers know their enemies for the Thanksgiving Holiday

Tigers know their enemies for the Thanksgiving Holiday

AUBURN — The Auburn basketball team will participate in the Thanksgiving Holiday for the fifth consecutive season.

The Tigers, who beat Indiana last year, will return to State Farm Arena on Dec. 14 to play Ohio State, the program announced Monday. Auburn has faced the Buckeyes once before, when the teams met in the Sweet 16 of the 1999 NCAA Tournament. Ohio State pulled out a 72-64 win en route to the Final Four.

Ohio State has won 20 or more games in six of the last seven seasons, including 22 in 2023-24. Fourteen of those wins last season came under Chris Holtmann, who was fired in February. Assistant coach Jake Diebler led the Buckeyes to an 8-3 record as interim coach. He was officially named head coach on March 17. Diebler has previous experience as an assistant coach at Valparaiso and Vanderbilt.

Auburn’s deal with the Buckeyes comes on the heels of the Tigers announcing deals with Purdue and Houston. Auburn plays the Cougars on Nov. 9 and the Boilermakers on Dec. 21.

Other non-conference games currently scheduled for the Tigers include a game at Duke in the ACC/SEC Challenge and three games in The Maui Invitational. Auburn will play three of the other seven teams in the field. In addition to the Tigers, the field includes Colorado, Dayton, Iowa State, Memphis, Michigan State, North Carolina and UConn.

The SEC announced the locations of next season’s conference games in May. The Tigers will host Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Away tests will be at Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.

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Auburn basketball schedule 2024-25: What we know

  • November 9: Houston at Toyota Center (neutral)
  • November 25: Jim Maui Invitational Tournament TBD
  • November 26: Jim Maui Invitational Tournament TBD
  • November 27: TBD at Jim Maui Invitational
  • Dec. 4: At Duke as part of ACC/SEC Challenge
  • Dec. 14: vs. Ohio State (neutral) as part of Holiday Hoopsgiving
  • Dec. 21: vs. Purdue at Legacy Arena (neutral)

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at @rich_silva18, formerly known as X.