We took a week to focus solely on football, but let’s return to previewing the men’s basketball schedule.

Through the non-conference portion of the year, I have the Tigers going 11-2, which is already more wins than they had in 2022-23, great job scheduling an easy non-con since there’s about four total games that should cause any worry at all.

But now we move into the conference season. And that’s a different beast. I don’t think I need to remind you how many wins Missouri had in conference play last year, but the revamped roster will get the chance to beat that total when it opens conference play at Auburn on Jan. 4. So today, we’ll take a look at Auburn, LSU and Vanderbilt.

Missouri will jump from a pretty easy non-conference schedule right into the fire of SEC play when it takes on No. 11 Auburn, ranked No. 3 in the KenPom rankings, the highest of any team on Missouri’s schedule at the moment.

For a quick look back at last season, Auburn went 27-8 an 13-5 in conference play. The other Tigers won the SEC Tournament, beating South Carolina (86-55), Mississippi State (73-66) and Florida (86-67) to earn a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But Auburn was taken down in the first round by No. 13 Yale (78-76). It was the third consecutive season Auburn made the NCAA Tournament, though it hasn’t made it past the second round since 2019 when it made the Final Four.

The pair of Tigers only matched up once last year, on March 5, and Auburn won 101-74. The last time Missouri won the matchup was Feb. 15, 2020 when Missouri won 85-73 in Columbia.

This will be the lone regular-season matchup between the pair of Tigers.

Ten players are back from last year’s Auburn roster, including All-American leading scorer Johni Broome, a 6-foot, 10-inch, 240-pound senior forward/center.

After starting his college career at Morehead State, Broome has been excellent for Auburn the past two seasons, leading the Tigers in scoring and rebounding both years and ranking in the top 10 in the country in blocks both seasons.

Last season, Broome averaged 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game to go with more than two blocks per contest, playing in all 35 games and recording a double-double in all but 2.

Senior guard/forward Chad Baker-Mazara (6-7, 180) also returns after averaging 10.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, while shooting 41.8 percent from 3 (38-of-91). He only started nine games, but played in all 35 and averaged the fourth most minutes on the team in his first year since transferring from Northwest Florida State College, where he spent one year after playing one season at San Diego State and Duquesne.

Starting guard Denver Jones (6-4, 205) is back after averaging 9.1 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. Jones also shot 41.8 percent from 3 (51-of-122) and was second on the team in 3s made and attempted to Aden Holloway, who did not return this year.

Fifth-year forward Chris Moore (6-6, 220) is the final player who started more than 20 games who returns. He started 26 games.

From the transfer portal, Auburn brought in 6-2, 180-pound senior guard JP Pegues, a four-star recruit ranked No. 48 in Rivals’ transfer portal recruit rankings. Pegues spent three seasons at Furman, averaging 18.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game last season.

Auburn also brought in four-star transfer recruit Miles Kelly from Georgia Tech. Kelly was ranked No. 245 in Rivals’ transfer rankings. Kelly, a 6-6, 190-pound senior guard, was an All-ACC honorable mention for Georgia Tech last year, averaging 13.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

Auburn’s freshman recruiting class ranked No. 26 with two total recruits in four-star guard Tahaad Pettiford from Jersey City, New Jersey, and four-star forward Jahki Howard from Atlanta.

Auburn beat Furman (must have been fun for Pegues) 83-62 in an exhibition Sunday and opens the season hosting Florida Atlantic on Friday.

The Tigers will face a tough non-conference schedule that includes playing No. 4 Houston, No. 5 Iowa State, No. 7 Duke and No. 14 Purdue, all technically away from home, though the matchup with Purdue is in Birmingham, Ala.

Sorry to say it, but Missouri opens the conference schedule with a loss.

Ah great, the start of all those 8 p.m. conference home games on the schedule. I love working past 11 p.m. on a Tuesday.

Also, knocking out those other Tigers early, which is just great as a writer.

LSU enters the season ranked No. 50 in the KenPom rankings after going 17-16 overall last season and 9-9 in SEC play.

LSU really struggled away from home, winning just 3-of-10 true road games and going 2-3 on neutral sites.

The Bayou Bengals lost to Mississippi State (70-60) in the first round of the SEC Tournament and lost to North Texas (84-77) in the first round of the NIT.

LSU beat Missouri 84-80 on March 9 in the final matchup of the regular season last year. It was the lone time the pair of Tigers played last season, and this matchup will be the lone time they face off in the regular season this year. Missouri last beat LSU on March 1, 2023, 81-76 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Third-year coach Matt McMahon leads a team that lost seven players from last year’s roster, including leading scorers and back-court combo Jalen Cook and Jordan Wright.

LSU also lost its third-leading scorer to graduation, so the highest-scoring returner is junior forward Tyrell Ward (6-6, 195) who averaged 9.1 points and 2.3 rebounds per game, while co-leading the team with 52 3-pointers and hitting them at a 41.3 percent clip. Ward started 10 games and played in 31.

Junior forward Jalen Reed (6-10, 240) also returns after starting 20 games and averaging 7.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.

LSU’s transfer recruiting class was led by four-star senior guard Cam Carter (6-3, 190) from Kansas State. Carter was ranked No. 80 in Rivals’ transfer rankings.

Carter started his career at Mississippi State then played the past two seasons at Kansas State. Last year, Carter averaged 14.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game and scored more than 20 points three times. He has 100 career 3-pointers, including 59 last season.

Fifth-year guard Jordan Sears (5-11, 185) from UT Martin also came in through the portal. Sears was ranked No. 176 in Rivals’ transfer rankings.

Sears was All-Ohio Valley Conference the past two years and averaged 21.6 points per game last year to rank ninth among Division I players.

LSU brought in the No. 13-ranked freshman class with three four-star recruits and one three star. The class consists of four-star forward Robert Miller (6-9, 201) from Pasadena, Texas, four-star guard Curtis Givens III (6-3, 170) from Montverde, Florida, four-star guard Vyctorius Miller (6-6, 180) from Chandler Arizona and three-star center Noah Boyed (7-0, 230) from McCook, Nebraska.

With the loss of depth in the back court, Miller and Givens are expected to earn their way into consistent minutes this season.

LSU hosted Loyola of New Orleans in an exhibition Tuesday, winning ______.

The Tigers will open the season next Wednesday hosting Louisiana-Monroe.

LSU will not play a team that entered the season ranked during non-conference play.

For the first time since March 4, 2023, Missouri wins a conference game.

Yay an afternoon game on a Saturday! I might actually be done working early enough to take my girlfriend to a nice dinner.

Vanderbilt enters the season ranked No. 95 in the KenPom rankings after going 9-23 overall last season with a 4-14 record in conference play.

The Commodores beat Missouri, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Florida in conference play. They did not beat a power-conference team in non-conference play. Vanderbilt beat Missouri 68-61 in Nashville on Feb. 3.

Missouri last beat the Commodores 85-82 on Jan. 7, 2023 in Columbia. The Tigers and Commodores will play twice this season, with the second matchup coming March 1 in Nashville.

First-year coach Mark Byington takes over for Jerry Stackhouse after leading James Madison to the NCAA Tournament last year.

Only two players made the transition from Stackhouse to Byington. Sophomore forward JaQualon Roberts and junior guard Jordan Williams, who both averaged 2.0 points per game, are the only returners on roster.

But Byington brought in 10 transfers and two high school recruits to replace the 11 players who left the program.

Vanderbilt brought in two top-30 transfer recruits by Rivals’ rankings in No. 21 Jason Edwards from North Texas and No. 26 A.J. Hoggard from Michigan State. Both are four-stars.

Edwards, a 6-1, 175-pound junior from Atlanta, was first-team All-AAC last season, starting 22-of-34 games and averaging 19.1 points per game. He hit 84 3-pointers and scored 30 points in five games, including a career-best 37 against Tulane on Jan. 6. He started his career at Dodge City Community College and was an NJCAA first-team All-American as a freshman.

Hoggard, a 6-4, 220-pound graduate from Coatesville, Pennsylvania, spent the first four years of his career at Michigan State and was an All-Big 10 third teamer as a junior. Last year, Hoggard started 34-of-35 games and averaged 10.7 points and 5.2 assists, reaching All-Big 10 honorable mention status. He is just one of three Michigan State players in the past 30 years to record 1,000 career points, 500 career assists and 300 career rebounds. He also recorded 50 steals.

Vanderbilt also added four-star guard Grant Huffman from Davidson and four-star forward Devin McGlockton from Boston College.

Huffman was ranked No. 110 in Rivals’ transfer rankings and McGlockton was No. 248.

Huffman, a 6-4, 190-pound graduate from Aurora, Ohio, spent the previous four years at Davidson and recorded career-best averages of 12.8 points, 5.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game last year. He scored 24 points in consecutive games against George Washington and Fordham last year for his co-career highs.

McGlockton, a 6-7, 230-pound junior from Cumming, Georgia, started all 36 games last season for Boston College and averaged 10.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 57.5 percent from the floor and 36.7 percent from 3.

The Commodores’ freshman group includes 6-0, 170-pound guard Tyler Tanner from Nashville and 6-2, 180-pound Karris Bilal from Atlanta. Both were three-star recruits.

Overall, Byington brought in some talent among all the new faces, but revamping a program within the SEC is tough sledding.

Vanderbilt will open the season hosting Maryland Eastern Shore on Nov. 4 and will not face a team that opened the season ranked in the non-conference schedule. The Commodores do face California as a common opponent with the Tigers.

There’s conference win No. 2 for Missouri.

The Tigers just keep winning in my predictions. If Missouri starts the season 13-3, I have a feeling a lot of energy will be back in Mizzou Arena this season.

Head on over to the Tiger Walk to discuss the coming season and so much more.