AUBURN, Ala. \u2013 No. 22 Auburn\u2019s strength of schedule gets a massive boost Sunday when the Tigers take on No. 1 Houston in Birmingham in The Battleground 2K25.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAn incredible opportunity playing the No. 1 team in the country,\u201d Auburn coach Steven Pearl<\/a> said. \u201cThey\u2019re the standard in college basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n The Tigers take a 3-0 record to Legacy Arena, but Auburn\u2019s degree of difficulty takes a steep climb against the Cougars.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about six or seven steps up when you play a program like Houston,\u201d Pearl said. \u201cTo play them early in the year is going to be really good for us to see where we are.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In victories over Bethune-Cookman, Merrimack and Wofford, Auburn averaged 94.3 points per game. Points, says Pearl, will be harder to come by against Houston.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the last 10 years, they\u2019ve been the best defensive team in college basketball,\u201d Pearl said. \u201cThey disrupt everything you do offensively. They disrupt you timing. They continuously have guards that are such great on-ball defenders. They make your life really difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n Pearl put into perspective how successful Houston has been under coach Kelvin Sampson, comparing the Cougars to Auburn\u2019s 2018-25 golden age that features five SEC championships and two Final Fours.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have 41 more wins than us in that time,\u201d he said. \u201cThey play with a different level of fire and a different level of energy and passion.\u201d<\/p>\n In Auburn\u2019s favor are three players who have faced Houston before: Tahaad Pettiford<\/a>, who scored 21 points in the Tigers\u2019 74-69 win last year in Houston, Kevin Overton<\/a> and Keyshawn Hall<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cYou live for these big matchups,\u201d said Hall, Auburn\u2019s leading scorer (24.3) and rebounder (11.0). \u201cI appreciate everyone who\u2019s going to come out and support us. That\u2019s a great team over there and they\u2019re the No. 1 team in the country but I feel like we can compete with anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n The Tigers have outrebounded their first three opponents by an average of 20.3 boards per game, a trend that if continued would greatly increase Auburn\u2019s chances of earning Pearl\u2019s first signature head coaching win.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe teams that win the rebounding battle are going to win games,\u201d Pearl said. \u201cIt\u2019s much easier said than done because they fly at that thing with reckless abandon. Our guys are going to have to play with a different level of intensity, energy and physicality.\u201d<\/p>\n No. 22 Auburn (3-0) tips off against top-ranked Houston (3-0) in Birmingham\u2019s Legacy Arena Sunday at 2 p.m. CT on ESPN and the Auburn Sports Network, where Andy Burcham and Randall Dickey will bring the action to listeners.<\/p>\n Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer<\/a><\/p>\n