Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl Sounds Off on SEC Performance in NCAA Tournament

The Auburn coach discussed the difficulty of conference play this season.

Following a 79–61 blowout loss to No. 10 seed Miami in Sunday’s second round of the NCAA tournament, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl did not mince words when discussing the SEC’s record in the Big Dance.

“The SEC will get crushed for our tournament performance. We just beat each other up all year. It was just a grind. We didn’t show it in the tournament,” Pearl said.

Five of the six SEC teams in the tournament failed to make it to the Sweet 16, and all five were eliminated by a double-digit seed. 

• No. 15 Saint Peter’s over No. 2 Kentucky - first round
• No. 11 Notre Dame over No. 6 Alabama - first round
• No. 11 Iowa State over No. 6 LSU - first round
• No. 11 Michigan over No. 3 Tennessee - second round
• No. 10 Miami over No. 2 Auburn - second round

The only SEC school to advance to the second weekend of the tournament is No. 4 Arkansas, which dispatched No. 13 seed Vermont in the first round. The Razorbacks then beat No. 12 New Mexico State in the second round.

The SEC was viewed by many as the nation’s toughest college basketball conference this season, and Pearl’s comments after the game alluded to the difficulty of the league during the regular season. 

But perhaps the SEC was not as battle-tested as many thought. Regardless, with only Arkansas advancing, it was a disappointing weekend for one of the best basketball conferences in the country.