Auburn Basketball Ranked #1 for the 1st Time in Program History

The Associated Press college basketball poll began in 1948, and for the first time, Auburn is ranked #1. The Tigers (18-1), last week’s #2, traded places with Gonzaga (15-2) when the January 24th poll was announced.

Auburn’s only loss was to then #22 UCONN 115-109 in double overtime back in November. The Tigers have gone 15-0 overall since then, including a 7-0 record in the SEC. On January 22nd, Auburn beat twelfth ranked and traditional SEC powerhouse Kentucky 80-71, and that no doubt convinced some voters to make the Tigers #1.

Freshman forward Jabari Smith leads the team in scoring with 15.7 points per game; he’s also averaging 6.3 rebounds per game. We have several weeks of regular season plus the tournament yet to go this season, but some are mentioning Smith as a 1st round pick in this summer’s NBA draft, possibly even #1 overall.

Here’s some highlights of Auburn’s win over Kentucky: