We’re just a few days into the college basketball season but Bruce Pearl and Auburn are in the early driver’s seat for the most bizarre story of the season.
Shortly after the Tigers’ chartered flight from Auburn to Houston for Saturday night’s top 15 showdown, the plane turned around and landed in Auburn due to an apparent flight on the plane between players.
“We have a bunch of basketball players fighting,” the pilot said. “The flight deck is secure. Threat level is contained for the moment. We’ll have police on the ground and we had two players that got into a physical altercation. Clothes were ripped and one bloody player.”
N681PA (QHD681) returns to Auburn after declaring an emergency.
Auburn basketball players had an altercation onboard. pic.twitter.com/TYm4lqYVrO
— Jack Sweeney (@Jxck_Sweeney) November 9, 2024
After deplaning, the Auburn team got on a new flight and made it to Houston late last night ahead of the Saturday night matchup. It is unclear which players were involved in the altercation and whether Auburn is suspending anyone against the Cougars.
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The 11th-ranked Tigers face No. 4 Houston at the Toyota Center in Houston on Saturday night in what’s the first test of the young season for both squads. The Tigers got off to an impressive start to the 2024-25 season on Tuesday night, eviscerating Vermont 94-43 thanks in part to Miles Kelly’s 21-point performance off the bench.
Auburn came in just outside the top 10 in the preseason AP Top 25. The SEC media picking Pearl’s 11th Tigers team to finish second in the SEC this season right behind Alabama and ahead of Tennessee.
Houston was just 1.5-point favorites against Auburn before the Tigers flight deplaned on Friday night. As of Saturday morning, the Cougars now 5.5-point favorites over Auburn according to DraftKings Sportsbook.
Tipoff between the Tigers and Cougars is at 9:30 p.m. ET at the Toyota Center. ESPNU is broadcasting the matchup.
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