Bruce Pearl’s ninth season at Auburn will begin with his team ranked in the top-15 nationally.

Auburn landed at No. 15 in the preseason AP poll released late Monday morning, with the start of the 2022-23 season just three weeks away. It’s Auburn’s best preseason ranking since the 2018-19 season, when the Tigers entered the year ranked 11th before putting together the most successful season in program history, culminating with a Final Four appearance.

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This year’s Auburn team will look to defend its SEC regular-season crown and eye a deeper postseason run than last year, when title aspirations fizzled out with a second-round NCAA Tournament exit. Gone are Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler, the Tigers’ two All-Americans who were selected in the first round of this summer’s NBA Draft, but Pearl retooled his roster in the offseason in hopes of building another contender.

While Auburn returns guards Wendell Green Jr., K.D. Johnson and Zep Jasper, as well as wingman Allen Flanigan and frontcourt pieces Jaylin Williams and Dylan Cardwell, the Tigers added Morehead State transfer big man Johni Broome — the reigning OVC Defensive Player of the Year — and three-man freshman class that includes five-star combo forward Yohan Traore, four-star guard/forward Chance Westry and three-star point guard Tre Donaldson. On paper, it was enough to warrant Auburn a top-15 spot in the preseason AP poll, as well as a preseason spot at No. 13 in KenPom’s ratings, which were posted Sunday.

Auburn is one of five SEC teams ranked in the preseason AP poll. Kentucky checked in at No. 4, while Arkansas is ranked 10th, Tennessee 11th and Alabama is 20th.

The Tigers have now been ranked at some point in each of the last five seasons under Pearl. They’ve also appeared in the AP top 25 in 42 consecutive weeks.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.