With Selection Sunday just more than 24 hours away and Auburn’s chances at a spot in the NCAA Tournament seemingly fading away by the second, the Tigers’ propaganda machine has kicked it up to a level not seen since the Soviet Union was still intact.
Auburn’s official men’s basketball Twitter account has spent the last several days reminding everyone who will pay attention that the Tigers played one of the toughest schedules in the country, loaded with non-conference games against the likes of Houston, Michigan, Arizona and Purdue. While it is great that Steven Pearl’s squad didn’t shy away from playing some of the big dogs in college basketball this season, the thing the Tigers aren’t reminding you of is their record against those four: 0-4.
In another graphic, Auburn brags about having the 14th-best offensive in the nation, according to KenPom. Awesome. Of course, again, what they don’t want you to see is that in the same rankings, the Tigers’ defense comes in at a mere 110th. Interesting stat to leave out, but understandable when fighting for your lives to get a play-in game in Dayton.
Auburn's Twitter account is doing its best to get the Tigers a NCAA Tournament bid
Which brings us to the latest, in which Auburn compares its non-conference schedule to those of the other teams (Texas, Indiana, Oklahoma, Miami (OH), SMU, VCU, Missouri, New Mexico, UCF, Santa Clara, NC State and San Diego State) that are also on the bubble. I must admit, this graphic is actually quite impressive if it is the first time you have been paying attention to college basketball this season.
The Tigers would be the first team with 16 losses to earn an NCAA Tournament bid without winning its conference tournament. It is also a team that collapsed at the end of the season, going from a sure thing to play in the tournament to a team that should probably be sitting at home unless they want to take part in the NIT.
No matter how many graphics Auburn tweets out, or how many times former head coach Bruce Pearl yells about the Tigers’ credentials on national television, this is a team that shouldn’t hear its name called on Sunday.