Bruce Pearl spoke very strongly about the Auburn Tigers deserving to get into the NCAA Tournament over the SMU Mustangs on CBS Sports airwaves. This, of course, took place during a Selection Sunday T.V. special that saw Steven Pearl's squad snubbed from March Madness.
Bruce defended his son's team's wins against top-seeded competition, while pointing out SMU's weak out-of-conference strength-of-schedule on the airwaves and then again later on his personal X account.
"Auburn beat three champions this year. They beat Florida, they beat St. John's and they beat Arkansas. They played the toughest schedule in the country; don't know they were rewarded for it. It's hard to get a couple more SEC teams in when the SEC already has 10 teams in," Pearl said on the broadcast.
"SMU with a 191(-ranked) out of conference strength schedule. That, I don't know that they should've been rewarded. They only won five games away from home. For me, it would've been either Oklahoma or Auburn taking that last spot."
CBS Sports' David Cobb said that it was "common sense" that the Mustangs made the tournament. That statement suggests the opposite opinion, one Bruce kept applying all afternoon since the bracket was announced, is not common sense.
"There would have been at least some metrics-backed defense for putting Auburn in the field with a 17-16 record. But the committee applied common sense — and a proper read of SMU — by putting the Mustangs in over Auburn (and Oklahoma)," Cobb wrote.
"While Auburn arrived at Selection Sunday ranking one spot better in the all-important WAB metric than SMU, the Mustangs were more deserving of a spot in the field. Committee chair Keith Gill noted that the absence of SMU guard B.J. Edwards down the stretch impacted the Mustangs, who are expected to have Edwards back for the NCAA Tournament.
"SMU went 1-5 without Edwards after starting 19-9 with him. Edwards rates as the Mustangs' second-best player in evanmiya.com's player efficiency tool, and his expected return for the Big Dance will dramatically improve the defense of a team that struggled down the stretch. Generally speaking, the committee handled the bubble well."
Bruce Pearl doesn't have much support from Auburn fans
Cobb summed up the Auburn Family's thoughts pretty well. The Tigers didn't deserve to make the field, and many Auburn fans probably don't want to see Keyshawn Hall play in orange and blue again. With that said, there will be many outbound transfers that will be missed. Most fear Tahaad Pettiford will be one of them.
Pearl luckily didn't try to make a case for a team that was one win above .500, AU, making the tournament over the Miami (OH) Redhawks, who lost one game since November. Pearl picked his battles a little wiser this time, though, as Cobb pointed out, it may not have been all that wise.
After all, Steven is a bigger villain than ever, now.