When going over college basketball's latest rankings, USA Today's Eddie Timanus spoke of Auburn's No. 1 spot as though they were simply lucky not to lose. As the only one-loss team in the country, the Tigers were nearly pegged by Timanus as a team living on borrowed time that's simply "avoiding the upset bug."
"We’ve reached the point in the men’s college basketball season when even ranked teams are going to take losses on a fairly regular basis. As such, the voters in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll had to make decisions based upon which losses were actually worthy of demotion and which were just the nature of the business," Timanus wrote.
"No. 1 Auburn managed to avoid the upset bug, however, and will keep the top spot for at least another week. The Tigers claimed 30 of 31 first-place votes and are the lone team yet to lose in conference in the crowded SEC."
With Johni Broome sidelined due to injury, it's easy to understand why national pundits are writing off Auburn. It's not as though the fine details of the Tigers backcourt and Chad Baker-Mazara stepping up to lead AU without its Naismith Men's College Player of the Year candidate would be noticed.
And truthfully, with Tennessee coming to town, it's easy to understand why many are expecting Auburn to take their first loss in SEC play soon.
Ultimately, though, those who cover the sport are just waiting for Cooper Flagg and Duke to rise to No. 1. Flagg is the NBA's likely next No. 1 overall pick and it's easier to sell the 2024 class's top prospect than it is to sell team basketball being played in East Central Alabama. It's even easier to sell that when the Blue Devils own a head-to-head win.
No matter. Auburn continues to be the story of the season. Maybe Pearl's program will get the shine it deserves come early April.
Respect doesn't matter at the end of the day. A national championship does. The Tigers are still No. 2 to Duke in March Madness futures odds as of this writing.