The Auburn Tigers won their first NIT championship on Sunday night, and in the aftermath, fans are split on whether or not to truly celebrate the win. Not making March Madness is how Steven Pearl's first season on the Plains will be defined. Still, overcoming the adversity of a torn locker room that saw KeShawn Murphy abruptly opt out of the NIT can't be ignored either.
In a piece titled "Behold, the biggest stooge in college basketball history," written about Murphy's opt-out, AL.com's Joseph Goodman claimed that the Tigers' consolation title would be "worthwhile" if Pearl can keep its core pieces.
"It wasn’t the NCAA Tournament, but hopefully the momentum it created carries over into the offseason," Goodman prefaced before saying, "If Auburn can retain some of its core pieces — namely Tahaad Pettiford, Elyjah Freeman, Kevin Overton, Sebastian Williams-Adams and Blake Muschalek — then it was all worthwhile."
Auburn's NIT was worthwhile no matter what
Auburn didn't mow down a murderer's row of opponents in the NIT. There were good teams in their path, which included the South Alabama Jaguars, Seattle Redhawks, Nevada Wolfpack, Illinois State Redbirds, and Tulsa Golden Hurricane, but a program as well-funded as AU should be beating these opponents.
With that said, after all of the whining from Bruce Pearl about his son's team not making the tournament on national television during March Madness coverage, this run was needed to show that Steven is willing to pay his dues. Steven never asked for the spotlight Bruce is giving him, but he responded after his team became a punchline across the country for those who don't appreciate high-level nepotism.
Steven earned respect from the NIT. If that respect resonates with the players who won those games on the court, it's a cherry on top. Truth be told, this NIT run was a an important display to transfers and recruits from across the country to show that Auburn isn't all bark and no bite in the post-Bruce era.
This run was already worthwhile. Only by the slimmest of margins, though, since Sunday night's title game could've been the biggest disaster had the Tigers ended up losing after blowing a 17-point halftime lead.
Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. That's fine, since Pearl and Auburn actually hit the mark and handled business and adversity well.
Oh, and as a bonus, the Tigers may have just saved the NIT for at least an extra year, since there were actual stakes to the consolation tournament this year.