The Auburn men’s basketball team is going to be a little late getting into Houston.
The Tigers’ flight west had to be turned around due to mid-trip “horseplay” between a group of players that could have escalated into a fight, according to Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman. He later reported that there was yelling and players got in each other’s faces, but there were no actual punches thrown.
The Auburn flight had reportedly been traveling for 45 minutes before heading back home, with another flight to Houston scheduled for later Friday. Auburn tips off against No. 4 Houston at 9:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Auburn plane returned back home due to horseplay between players on the flight that could have escalated into a fight, source told @TheFieldOf68.
Auburn was about 45 minutes en route and had to return home. Source said they are expected to take another plane to Houston later…
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) November 9, 2024
You can only wonder if Bruce Pearl said the words, “Stop yelling or I am turning this plane around.”
One of the pilots involved reportedly did describe the incident as a fight to air traffic control, but we don’t know if that person actually witnessed anything. There’s also a report from a social media account created last month identifying a group of three players who got into a physical altercation, but that is not confirmed whatsoever.
NEW: Flight that appears to be the Auburn men’s basketball team heading to Houston diverted back to Auburn this afternoon. Air Traffic Control audio we’ve obtained shows a pilot in that airspace telling ATC “we have a bunch of basketball players fighting”
We’ve reached out to…— Jonathan Hardison (@WBRC6Hardison) November 9, 2024
All of this suddenly makes Auburn’s player usage very interesting when it faces Houston. Presumably Pearl will not be eager to use any players who threw such a big wrench into the team’s travel plans, but you never know.
Auburn opened its season Wednesday with a 94-43 win over Vermont and is currently ranked No. 11 in the AP Poll. Houston is currently a -225 favorite on the money line at BetMGM, with a spread of 5.5 points.