The 1905–06 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team represented Auburn University in the 1905–06 college basketball season. This was the first men's basketball team ever to represent Auburn University. The team's head coach was Mike Donahue, who was in his first season at Auburn. The team played their home games at The Gymnasium in Auburn, Alabama. They finished the season 5–1–1. The team beat Mercer 64 to 8, and beat Georgia Tech 26 to 6 in the first intercollegiate basketball game in Atlanta.[1][2][3]
Basketball was invented by James Naismith in 1891. It seemed to take off in the South in 1906, when Yale's basketball team traveled throughout the South.[4] Auburn's two forwards, R. Y. Ware and C. W. Woodruff, played with Birmingham Athletic Club when it defeated Yale 24 to 18 on January 1, 1906. Auburn and B. A. C. battled to a 14 to 14 tie. The rules called for sudden-death overtime, but Auburn captain Frank Jones refused to play the overtime period because he felt the referees weren't calling a fair game.[5]