Bruce Pearl points to No. 3 Auburn’s resume in saying Tigers deserve NCAA’s No. 1 overall seed

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Auburn Tigers go into the NCAA Tournament having lost three of their final four games.

Coach Bruce Pearl isn’t worried. That didn’t stop him from making his case that Auburn deserves not just a No. 1 seed in the tournament but the overall No. 1 seed.

Why? Because of his Tigers’ “historically strong” resume. So no, he has no panic at the prospect of losing that top spot.

“We lost to Alabama, Tennessee and at Texas A&M,” Pearl said Saturday after his No. 3 Tigers lost 70-65 to No. 8 Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals.

“Yeah, we’re panicked,” he said sarcastically. “That’s a real softball.”

Pearl kept rolling to make his case for an Auburn team with five losses. Yes, three in the past four but all to great teams.

“We lost at the buzzer against Alabama,” Pearl said. “We had possessions here. Yeah, we’re panicked. I can hardly wait till next weekend to start playing again. Let’s get to Sunday, find out where we’re going, find out who we’re playing and let’s get back to work. I’m looking forward, not back.”

Pearl came out of the gate with his opening statement defending his Tigers. They won this tournament last year only to wind up a No. 4 seed when the selection committee announced the NCAA Tournament bracket. Auburn lost to Yale in the first round.

That was then, this is now and the SEC is trying to get an unprecedented 14 members into the bracket on Selection Sunday.

In a season when the conference has never been stronger, Auburn won a school-record eight SEC road games — the most in the league. Four of those were to ranked opponents. The Tigers came in No. 2 in NET Rankings and lead the country with 16 Quad 1 wins — four more than Michigan State (12).

Pearl argued that a loss to Tennessee shouldn’t keep Auburn from the top spot.

“We lost to a team that’s fighting for a 1 seed,” Pearl said.

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