Bruce Pearl points to No. 3 Auburn's resume in saying Tigers deserve NCAA's No. 1 overall seed
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — 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.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Star striker Robert Lewandowski says he'll no longer play for Poland while Michal Probierz is coach
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Robert Lewandowski will no longer play for Poland while Michał Probierz remains head coach, the Barcelona striker said. The 36-year-old Poland captain, who has played a record 158 games for his country and is the leading scorer with 85 goals, cited tiredness from a La Liga title-winning season with Barcelona for pulling out of last Friday's 2-0 friendly win over Moldova and Tuesday's World Cup qualifier against Finland. Advertisement Probierz subsequently named Inter Milan midfielder Piotr Zieliński as the new captain. The Polish soccer association said: 'Piotr Zieliński has been named the new captain of the national team by head coach Michał Probierz. The coach personally informed Robert Lewandowski, the entire team and the coaching staff of his decision.' Lewandowski replied with a post on X: 'Taking into account the circumstances and the loss of trust in the head coach of the Polish national team, I have decided to step down from playing for the national team for as long as he remains in charge. I hope I will still have the chance to play again for the best fans in the world.' Lewandowski suffered an injury to his left thigh on April 19 in a La Liga match against Celta Vigo and was sidelined for two weeks. He missed four games, including a thrilling 3-3 Champions League semifinal first leg against Inter in Barcelona. Advertisement He recovered in time for the second leg and was used as substitute in a 4-3 defeat that sent Inter to the final. Poland leads World Cup Group G qualifying with two wins from two games. ___ AP soccer: The Associated Press
Fox Sports
9 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Star striker Robert Lewandowski says he'll no longer play for Poland while Michal Probierz is coach
Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Robert Lewandowski will no longer play for Poland while Michał Probierz remains head coach, the Barcelona striker said. The 36-year-old Poland captain, who has played a record 158 games for his country and is the leading scorer with 85 goals, cited tiredness from a La Liga title-winning season with Barcelona for pulling out of last Friday's 2-0 friendly win over Moldova and Tuesday's World Cup qualifier against Finland. Probierz subsequently named Inter Milan midfielder Piotr Zielinski as the new captain. The Polish soccer association said: 'Piotr Zieliński has been named the new captain of the national team by head coach Michał Probierz. The coach personally informed Robert Lewandowski, the entire team and the coaching staff of his decision.' Lewandowski replied with a post on X: 'Taking into account the circumstances and the loss of trust in the head coach of the Polish national team, I have decided to step down from playing for the national team for as long as he remains in charge. I hope I will still have the chance to play again for the best fans in the world.' Lewandowski suffered an injury to his left thigh on April 19 in a La Liga match against Celta Vigo and was sidelined for two weeks. He missed four games, including a thrilling 3-3 Champions League semifinal first leg against Inter in Barcelona. He recovered in time for the second leg and was used as substitute in a 4-3 defeat that sent Inter to the final. Poland leads World Cup Group G qualifying with two wins from two games. ___ AP soccer:
Fox Sports
34 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Brian Priske returns to Sparta Prague as coach after a stint at Feyenoord
Associated Press PRAGUE (AP) — Brian Priske has agreed to return to Sparta Prague on a multiple-year contract after a stint at Feyenoord, the Czech club said. Priske started at Sparta three years ago and immediately led the struggling team to its first title in nine years. He successfully defended the title last year and completed a double by winning the Czech Cup. Under Priske, Sparta reached the round of 16 in the Europa League where it was eliminated by Liverpool in the 2023-24 season. Last summer, Sparta agreed to release Priske before the end of his contract to take over at Feyenoord when Arne Slot became the Liverpool manager. Priske led Feyenoord in 33 games in all competitions, won the Dutch Super Cup and advanced from the league phase of the Champions League but was fired in February due to inconsistent results in the domestic league. Priske replaces his former assistant Lars Friis, who was fired after Sparta's fourth-place finish in the Czech league. 'Now, I'm back with at least the same hunger as before — maybe even more,' Priske said. ___ AP soccer: recommended in this topic
