If you wanted a picture of just how better of a season 2024-25 was for Bruce Peral, you needn’t look far from the Auburn residents. In a state where football ruled for years, arenas had filled to the brink. Students would set up tents, the minimum donation was raised to $1 million for season tickets, and Charles Barkley would say, “what a terrific job he [Pearl] has done.” Pearl & Co. rode high on the success. Grew confident. The picture looked almost too good to ever get off. But the previous few weeks have proved it wasn’t impossible. Auburn’s basketball enthusiasm might be here to stay, but the Tigers have hit a low.

The smiles and excitement slowly drifted when the No.1 overall seed lost to Florida in a tightly-contest Final Four matchup. “Now we’ve got to finish it out,” Pearl had said prior to March Madness. “We have to finish it out.” One would only hope it had transpired. A NPOY candidate on the roster — Johni Broome — and 5 players who were averaging over 10. It couldn’t get better than that. In losing, the Auburn Tigers may have just let their best chance slip. Because the way this off-season is proceeding, Tigers Nation may not hold hopes just yet.

With an end to the season, Bruce Pearl’s squad suffered a flurry of absences, as players either graduated, declared for the draft, or entered 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.

His departure meant Pearl had lost all of his 5 starters from the past season. Johni Broome, Denver Jones, Dylan Cardwell, and Miles Kelly, all have used up their eligibility. 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. 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.

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 mean some hopes.

Pearl is now left with seven new faces. 4 from the transfer portal and 3 recruits in the freshman class. But despite the challenges this may suggest, Pearl seemingly remains unfazed. After landing Kevin Overton, a 6-foot-5 combo guard on Tuesday afternoon, he had one reaction — “Boom.” You would expect that of an experienced recruiter. Overhauling, starting over, or adapting isn’t new to the head coach. Call that even one of his better abilities.

But entering 2025-26 season, it is even more of a task than is was ever before. The Tigers have given a taste of what it means to be on the top. They aren’t settling for anything less now. Just ask Chuck. “He got us to the Final Four [in 2019], which was a shocker to everybody, but now he’s gotten us to the point that unless we win a couple of March Madness games, we haven’t had a good season,” he says.

Parrish has his reasoning in placing Auburn at #19. But Pearl gotta rise above it. So how is he faring in that matter?

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 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. As for the freshman class, we have Sebastian Williams-Adams, ranked No.43, Kaden Magwood, #51, and Simon Walker, #106. The focus now will be solely on Bruce Pearl. Will he be able to defy expectations and make another deep playoff run?