The University of Maryland-Baltimore County will always be remembered in college basketball history as the first No. 16 seed to drop a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, doing so in 2018 when the Retrievers upset Virginia.
The program is back in the tournament for the first time since then, clinching an auto-bid by winning the American East with a 74-59 victory over Vermont.
It’s a time for celebration for everyone involved with that program and school, but while taking some time to catch their breath, the school’s athletic department’s official Twitter account decided to take a shot at Auburn, Bruce Pearl and the Tigers' continuous begging to be given a bid to this year’s tournament.
Just realized the best part of having an autobid is that we don’t need a relative going on tv to explain why we deserve to be in over a 30-win @MiamiRedHawks https://t.co/yhzvNg66BP
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 15, 2026
UMBC fires shots at Auburn's NCAA Tournament argument
Shots fired, and with good reason. For the last two weeks, one of the biggest debates in college basketball has been whether the Miami (OH) RedHawks deserve a spot in the tournament if they didn’t win their conference tournament despite going through the regular season with a perfect record. When Travis Steele’s team dropped to UMass in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament on Thursday, the debate grew even louder.
One of the biggest naysayers about Miami has been Bruce Pearl, the former Auburn head coach and father of the current Tigers’ head coach, Steven. While he has gone back and forth with his opinion on it, Pearl has been accused of trying to keep the RedHawks out of the tournament in favor of Auburn, which finished 17-16 on the season with a losing record in the SEC.
Auburn men’s basketball Twitter account has done everything it can to prove why the Tigers deserve a bid, but odds are that when Selection Sunday ends, Auburn’s name will not be heard.
The Retrievers (and RedHawks) likely have no problem with that.Â