I know Auburn did not have a lot of talent for Pearl to work with but I am sorry they had enough talent with a good coach to do better than 4-14. It has been extremely difficult to watch. The first game I watched this season was against Texas Tech and the team was flat terrible and have stayed that way most of this season. I have heard a lot about this team fighting and not quitting but you can say that about Jeff Lebo's teams. The only thing that matters is wins and losses and again 4-14 just does not cut it. This team has as much or more talent than many teams Auburn has had over the last 20 years that had better conference records with worse coaches.
Going into the SEC tournament, I was pretty down on the whole thing and wondering if Auburn basketball had indeed passed the point of no return. There was no tangible evidence that Bruce Pearl had made a bit of difference... till the SEC tournament, a place where Auburn had not won a game since 2009. Finally at the very end, Auburn finally shined like a pearl. The Tigers led by Pearl and senior K.T. Harrell beat Mississippi State (who had delivered one of Auburn's most painful home losses this season) , Texas A&M (who had absolutely beat down Auburn twice this season) and finally the LSU Tigers who were gunning for an NCAA tournament berth.
The LSU game was the magical one with Harrell hitting a tough three-point buzzer beater to tie it up and send it to overtime where the Tigers would win it. An Auburn basketball win led that evenings ESPN Sportscenter. I am not sure that has ever happened before. Auburn coach Bruce Pearl hit a "buzzer beater" of his own by leading this tournament run. After a season of bad basketball and tough losses Pearl finally has something to show, something to sell to recruits. The run ended a day later in the semi-finals against the undefeated Kentucky Wildcats but the statement was made.
Of course, nothing comes easy to Auburn basketball as top forward Cinmeon Bowers was suspended for the Kentucky game for some kind of rules violation. That taints the whole thing a little bit and could effect the program depending on the severity of the violation. So far, no details have been released but it is extremely frustrating to see following such a big win. Next season Auburn loses Harrell and some of the other main contributors in Antoine Mason, K.C. Ross-Miller and Malcolm Canada. Pearl is supposed to have a top twenty recruiting class coming in to replace them. I hope so because Pearl has to build on this run and show more next season.
I think Auburn needs to finish with a winning conference record or at least 8-8 next season. Of course that was what I expected this season. Pearl will have to do it with a younger team but that has kind of become the standard in college basketball. I think another losing conference record will hurt Pearl's sales pitch and make it more difficult to convince recruits that Auburn is turning it around. The home attendance will drop as well. Auburn fans will support a good team but most everyone has better things to do than watch another bad Auburn basketball team.
I am not sure when or if Auburn will ever make it back to the NCAA Tournament. Things have changed so much since Auburn last made it to the Big Dance in 2003. At that time, a winning conference record pretty much guaranteed an NCAA Tournament berth. Auburn got in with an 8-8 record in 2003. Nowadays an SEC team can go 12-4 in conference and not make it. That does not bode well for Auburn. You have to get some big wins against out-of-conference foes in addition to doing well in your conference. Most of the big preseason tournaments are only for the sacred cows of college basketball and they do not let anyone else in.
Short term, I am just looking for Auburn to be in the top half of the programs in the SEC because right now the Tigers are at the very bottom historically. Long term Pearl will eventually be judged on his ability to get Auburn back into the NCAA Tournament. I think that will be a very tough job indeed. Pearl will have shown how good a coach he is if he can pull that off. Again though the first step is a winning conference record. Auburn has had only one season with a winning conference record in the last FIFTEEN years. It is time to take that first step after laying the foundation with this seasons SEC Tournament run.
