After how his resignation went down and the way his son and successor, Steven Pearl, has performed this season in his first year as head coach at Auburn, it’s probably not wise for Bruce Pearl to start giving any hot takes out on the world of college basketball.
But there he was this past weekend, taking down on of the feel-good stories of the season.
“Miami (Ohio), here’s the deal,” Pearl said. “Are we selecting the 68 most deserving teams? Or are we going to select the 68 best teams? If we’re selecting the 68 best teams, then Miami (Ohio) is going to have to win their tournament to qualify as a champion. Because as an at-large, they are not one of the best teams in the country. And that’s going to be a difficult choice for the committee to make.”
David Sayler, the athletic director at Miami (Ohio), wasn’t taking any of that slander.
“@coachbrucepearl u are flat out wrong about @MiamiOH_BBall when u say we would finish last in the Big East. The disrespect is awful and u should not be near a TV studio covering this sport when u show your true colors!” Sayler on X. “Even slipped in a ‘we’ when talking about Auburn, nice work!”
Bruce Pearl grandstanding for Auburn, son
The RedHawks are the only undefeated team left in college basketball as we go into the last week of the regular season, standing 29-0 and 16-0 in the Mid-American Conference. While it’s not always guaranteed that a mid-major like Miami (Ohio) will get in the tournament without winning its conference tournament, the odds are pretty high considering what Travis Steele’s team has accomplished.
If you look deeper into Pearl’s comments, you could also find that he was grandstanding for his son and Auburn, who entered Saturday on the bubble after losing six out of its last seven games. That bubble seemed to burst as the Tigers dropped 85-79 in an embarrassing loss to Ole Miss, who entered the matchup losers of 10 straight games.