Auburn reverses flight due to ‘horseplay’ between players mid-trip before clash with No. 4 Houston: Report

The Auburn men’s basketball team is going to be a little late heading to Houston.

The Tigers’ flight west had to be reversed 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 getting in each other’s faces, but no actual punches were thrown.

The Auburn flight had reportedly been on the road for 45 minutes before heading home, with another flight to Houston scheduled for later Friday. Auburn tips against No. 4 Houston at 9:30 PM ET on Saturday.

You can only wonder if Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said the words, “Stop yelling or I’ll turn this plane around.”

One of the pilots involved reportedly described the incident as a struggle with air traffic control, but we don’t know if that person actually witnessed anything. There is also a report from a social media account created last month that identifies a group of three players who got into a physical altercation, but that has not been confirmed at all.

All of this suddenly makes Auburn’s player usage very interesting when it faces Houston. Presumably Pearl won’t be eager to use any players who have thrown 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 moneyline at BetMGM, with a spread of 5.5 points.