Auburn’s men’s basketball team will get an early test this coming season as it heads to Houston’s Toyota Center to take on the Houston Cougars on Nov. 9, Auburn announced Thursday.

The Tigers and Cougars will also meet the following season, with the 2025-26 matchup being played at Birmingham’s Legacy Arena.

Bruce Pearl and the Tigers’ visit to the home of the Houston Rockets will give Auburn an early measuring stick for its 2024-25 campaign after Houston finished its 2023-24 season 32-5 and won the Big 12 regular season title.

The Cougars went on to advance to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16, where they ultimately saw their season come to an end after a three-point loss to the Duke Blue Devils — another team Auburn is set to see this coming season.

When Auburn and Houston tipoff off from the Toyota Center in November, it’ll make for the two teams’ ninth meeting in history with the Cougars holding a commanding 7-1 record in the series.

The last time Auburn and Houston met on the hardwood was during the 2023 NCAA Tournament Round of 32 at Legacy Arena, where the top-ranked Cougars beat the Tigers 81-64.

The postseason matchup in 2023 was the first in more than 40 years as Auburn and Houston had played the previous seven games between the years of 1961-1982.

The Tigers’ lone win in series history came in 1962 with a 71-69 overtime win over the Cougars in New Orleans.

With Thursday’s scheduling announcement, Auburn now has six confirmed non-conference games on its 2024-25 slate:

• A trio of games during the Maui Invitational
• A Dec. 4 matchup at Duke for the ACC/SEC Challenge
• A Dec. 21 matchup with Purdue at Birmingham’s Legacy Arena

“With our SEC/ACC Challenge game at Duke and this game versus Houston at the Toyota Center, we will have two road contests against the preseason top two teams in the country,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. “That’s never happened in Auburn Basketball history, so be careful of what you wish for.”