Amidst Auburn solidifying its AP Top 25 Poll No. 1 ranking by defeating Alabama in the IBOB, one journalist felt the need to link Bruce Pearl to the one team that stands out as a threat to poach him: Indiana.
Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame journalist Oscar Combs implored IU to pursue Pearl -- with a major assist from Hoosiers alumnus Mark Cuban.
"Bruce Pearl is mighty hot right now and he has Indiana roots," Combs prefaced before saying, "Gonna take lot of money to pull him away from Auburn where he is definitely Tarzan of The Jungle. Yet, Indiana is desperate. Where are you, Mark Cuban?"
Cuban donated big money to Indiana in 2015. Perhaps he'll show someone the money. It seems he's divesting from basketball if anything.
Pearl eventually handing the Tigers over to his son, Steven, is a running theory that'd make a Bruce-IU union possible.
Bruce called Indiana his "dream job" in 2023.
"Indiana was my dream job, it really was,'' Pearl told On SI's Tom Brew. "I love everything about Indiana basketball, really loved and admired Coach Knight as a young coach myself, and it's one of the great programs in America.
"The timing was never right, I suppose. I guess, what, I was at Tennessee and really enjoying that and I love Auburn now. So nothing ever really aligned, but it would have been a dream come true to coach Indiana. That's how much I love and respect that program.''
In the moments following a 94-85 win at Coleman Coliseum, Pearl leaving probably isn't worth much thought.
Auburn isn't supposed to be in this spot. To Alabama's credit, neither are they. In 2025, though, the SEC is a basketball conference. Pearl is arguably the reason that happened.
So let's put the brakes on the Indiana talk. Pearl probably won't go to IU until he finishes business on the Plains by cutting down the nets on a Monday in early April.