Comparing the Auburn Tigers to last year's Baylor Bears

Is this year's basketball team similar to what Baylor did last season?

Auburn has dropped two games in February and some fans are starting to panic. The Tigers have shown nothing but fight and tenacity for every second of play this season. 

Last season's eventual national champions finished the regular season with a 21-1 record overall and went 13-1 in the Big 12. They lost their second game of the Big 12 tournament and entered the NCAA tournament as a one seed and a 22-2 overall record. 

One of Auburn's leaders on their team, Zep Jasper, had an interesting quote that got me thinking about how this Auburn team looks similar to last year's national champions. 

"You know, when the season kept going by, and the only team I could see us being like was the Baylor team from last year," Jasper said on Locked On Auburn. "From defense to offense, we just have a lot of depth. They lost games last year. A lot of people didn't think they were going to lose games but it happens. It happens to the best of us."

Last season, Baylor lost two games late in the season. There's a section of the Auburn fanbase that is concerned with Auburn's basketball's two losses in February. Last year, Baylor lost both of their games even later in the season. Their first loss of the year came on February 27th and the second loss came on March 12th. Any talented team can get hot at any point of the season. They obviously went on to win the national championship. 

Like last year's Baylor team, Auburn relies on depth and strong defense. The Tigers are a tad short on the defensive front than what Baylor did last year. The Bears allowed 65.5 points per game, while this season Auburn is allowing 67 points per game. 

The 2020-2021 Baylor squad had nine players that averaged 10 minutes of action a night. This year's Auburn squad had 10 players averaging 10 minutes or more a game, but one of those is Lior Berman who has seen his role shrink over the course of the season. 

For what it's worth, Baylor finished the season as the number three team in the country according to the AP Poll. Auburn is ranked at the same spot as this week. Gonzaga was number one in the poll at the end of last year just like they are now. 

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