Auburn basketball will begin its SEC title and Final Four defense in a matter of weeks. And when it does, it will be a Top-25 team.

The Tigers opened the 2019-20 season at No. 24 in the preseason AP Top 25, announced Monday morning.

Bruce Pearl's bunch is the fourth-highest rated SEC team in the initial poll of the season, behind No. 2 Kentucky, No. 6 Florida and No. 22 LSU. The Tigers were picked to finish fourth in the conference by the media last week.

They're the lowest ranked Final Four team from last season, with Michigan State coming in at No. 1, Virginia at No. 11 and Texas Tech at No. 13.

The preseason KenPom rankings — which break down teams based on advanced statistics as a power-rating system — had Auburn at No. 22 when they dropped yesterday.

"It's hard to believe that I'm third in the SEC in seniority behind John Calipari and Frank Martin," Pearl said last month. "I kind of feel like I just got here still."

Auburn loses its top three scorers and two key role players from the program's first-ever Final Four season last year, but returns five seniors and brings in a recruiting class ranked top-15 nationally.

"With five seniors and nine newcomers, I don't know that I've ever had a roster that was so experienced on one end and so inexperienced on the other end," Pearl said.

Auburn plays Eckerd in an exhibition Nov. 1 before opening the season Nov. 5 against Georgia Southern in Auburn Arena.

1. Michigan State

2. Kentucky

3. Kansas

4. Duke

5. Louisville

6. Florida

7. Maryland

8. Gonzaga

9. North Carolina

10. Villanova

11. Virginia

12. Seton Hall

13. Texas Tech

14. Memphis

15. Oregon

16. Baylor

17. Utah State

18. Ohio State

19. Xavier

20. Saint Mary's (Cal)

21. Arizona

22. LSU

23. Purdue

24. Auburn

25. VCU