Is Auburn VMI-esque?

Matt pointed out earlier that Auburn is built similarly to VMI -- a guard-heavy rotation that penetrates and will find open shooters on drives. They may be similar in style, but they are very different teams when viewed through the season's statistics.

Taking a look at the statsheet.com comparison of all games played, Auburn hasn't scored nearly as much as VMI this season (VMI: 95.7 ppg; AUB 71.6 ppg), nor do they shoot a better percentage (VMI: 46.4 FG%, 74.1 FT%, 37.8 3PT%; AUB: 43.8 FG%, 59.9 FT%, 31.9 3PT%). The only thing Auburn does significantly better than VMI is rebound (VMI: 37.2 RPG; AUB: 41.1 RPG).

Auburn is nothing like VMI defensively, either -- which is a good thing for the Tigers. Auburn allows significantly less points, shooting percentages and rebounding than VMI. Opposing teams seem to shoot more 3-pointers against the Tigers, which is probably due to VMI not having much interior defense. Auburn's opponents shoot more FTs than VMI's opponents mainly because Auburn actually tries to play defense. (VMI leads the nation in steals by jumping into passing lanes, but they don't get many fouls -- they are 189th in the nation in fouls.)

Another major difference between VMI and Auburn is the strength of schedule. Statsheet.com shows VMI's SOS ranked 303rd in the nation, whereas Auburn's SOS is ranked 102. Partially due to Auburn's SOS and opponent's results, Statsheet.com shows that Auburn's RPI (118) is nearly as good as VMI's (116). Ken Pomeroy's SOS ranking (not based on RPI, but on pythagorean calculations) has Auburn's SOS ranked 245th and VMI's SOS ranked 304th. Ken's calculations for expected winning percentage is very high on Auburn, ranking the Tigers 77th and VMI 181st.

The numbers tell us that Auburn may be an overall better team than VMI. Auburn may not score at the same blistering pace as the Keydets, the Tigers are significantly better on defense and rebounding. If Kentucky were to play VMI tonight, just with Kentucky's latest improvement on perimeter defense and preventing turnovers should be enough to win. Kentucky may require more of a balanced game against the Tigers, including good offensive execution. Or we could just Hack-a-Tiger and let them leave points at the free-throw line.