The Auburn Tigers struggles down the stretch of the basketball season have not gone unnoticed. The discourse around Bruce Pearl’s team has largely centered around the fact it has lost three of four games heading into the NCAA Tournament, something no National Champion has ever done before.
Auburn’s resume earned it the No. 1 overall seed this March, but its recent lack of success have caused many to not only question the Tigers validity as the top seed in the tournament, but even as the top team in the conference. One of the doubters, ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith, voiced his frustrations to Bruce Pearl and company on his program, ‘First Take’, this week.
Speaking directly into the camera, Smith said “I’m a huge fan of Bruce Pearl [but] you lose three of the last four games coming into the tournament. I mean what the hell is going on? [Auburn] got bounced out last year in the first round, ya’ll supposed to have attitude…. Auburn what’s up? Are you going home early again is that what ya’ll going to do? Step your game up and handle your business, ya’ll better than that… okay!”
The longtime anchor’s frustration shares the sentiment of many members of the Auburn family, who feel as if the team may have lost a step since winning the SEC Regular Season Championship. Even with the rough stretch of play, Bruce Pearl’s Tigers still own 16 Quadrant 1 victories. It still has one of two unanimous AP First Team All-American players in Johni Broome, and it still possess a quartet of fantastic guards.
Auburn is better than what it has shown recently, but it remains to be seen if the Tigers can “step up their game and handle business” in March.
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