With Feast Week concluded, college basketball gets into the heart of its schedule this week. The Big 10 is beginning conference play, but non-conference games make up the top 10 games of the week. Andy Katz of NCAA.Com named Auburn at Arizona on Saturday as the 10th-best game this week.
Auburn beat Arizona 73-63 in the 1986 NCAA Tournament and 73-57 in the 2018 Maui Invitational in the programs' only two meetings. Arizona enters the game on Saturday with seven consecutive wins to begin the season. That includes wins over Florida, Connecticut and UCLA, who all began the season in the top 12 nationally.
Auburn has started the season with six wins and two losses. Houston gave Auburn its first loss, 73-72, on November 18 at Legacy Arena in Birmingham. Arizona will play Alabama on December 13 at Legacy Arena. That is the same arena Arizona played in during the 1997 NCAA Tournament South Regional on its way to the Final Four.
Auburn won two out of its three games at the Playera Era Championship in Las Vegas last week. Michigan beat Auburn 102-72 on Tuesday to give the Tigers their second loss this season. Arizona and Michigan are second and third in the Associated Press Top 25 and USA Today Coaches polls.
Post-Feast Week eats 🍴@TheAndyKatz lists 🔟 games to keep an eye on this week 👀 pic.twitter.com/4tBHglkKXE
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) December 1, 2025
"10. Auburn at Arizona, 10 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN: Both Auburn and Arizona continue a ridiculously hard non-conference slate. Bravo to both programs for continuing to play elite games. "Andy Katz, NCAA.Com
Auburn defeated Oregon and St.John's by 11 points each in their other two games in the Players Era Tournament. Oklahoma State also defeated Auburn 97-95 in overtime in an exhibition game. Auburn hosts North Carolina State on Wednesday in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Tuesday night.
Arizona has the advantage of a week off before hosting Auburn and not having to travel cross-country. Arizona is off for another week before playing at Alabama. Auburn is in its first season under Steven Pearl, after his father Bruce retired in September.
Arizona is sixth and Auburn 30th in the NCAA NetRatings released for the first time during the 2025-26 season on Monday. Arizona is eighth in KenPom and Auburn is 22nd. Auburn is 20th in the Associated Press Top 25 and 24th in the USA Today Coaches Poll for week five.