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
One of the pilots involved did describe the incident as a fight to air traffic control, saying two players got into an altercation. 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.
You can’t make this stuff up. The pilot audio is both bizarre and hilarious on the now infamous team flight from Auburn to Houston. pic.twitter.com/qacIQ8KZPI
— Michael Southern (@msouthern17) November 9, 2024
“We have got an altercation on board and we’d like to declare an emergency and land,” the pilot said. “We’ve got a bunch of basketball players fighting. The flight deck is secure, front level is contained for the moment. We want police on the ground because we had two players that got into a physical altercation.”
All of this suddenly makes Auburn’s player usage very interesting when it faces Houston, as the requested police presence on the ground indicate legal repercussions for the players involved. It’s also presumable Auburn head coach 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.