Another game against Auburn, another opportunity, and another stiff test

Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesThe impact of departures on a college basketball program can be overstated for a variety of reasons. Sometimes we assume too quickly that a team will miss its leading scorer, without drilling past the points column to see if that production came efficiently. Sometimes the performance of secondary players is overlooked because they didn’t receive a lot of minutes and therefore their counting stats were suppressed despite efficient play.

Auburn wasn’t exactly pegged for a dramatic step backward after losing five rotation players to the pros or graduation—the Tigers were picked fourth in the SEC—but whatever skepticism did creep in has…