That was in Nashville, when the Tigers knocked off Tennessee 79-71 in the 2022-23 SEC Tournament. What followed is a 20-game losing streak that became 21 Saturday when Missouri fell 84-68 at Auburn in both teams’ SEC opener.

After playing 13 non-conference games to tune up - and winning 12 of them - the No. 2 Auburn Tigers shift focus to a daunting SEC slate. Missouri is the first conference opponent that Auburn will take on in the 2024-25 campaign.

The days of the Southeastern Conference being seen as just a football league are in the past. The SEC enters conference play with 10 teams ranked in the AP Top 25, and the Missouri Tigers will get their first test of a difficult league schedule today with a trip to face the second-ranked Auburn Tigers.