Like Isotoner Gloves on Dan Marino’s hands, Bruce Pearl has been a great fit at Auburn. Not only does he have his team at 21-1 overall and ranked No. 1 in the country, with a blowout win over Oklahoma last night, the Tigers stand atop the SEC with a perfect 9-0 conference record and have won 14 straight games.
Nothing seems to be slowing Auburn down. Just a few weeks ago, center Johni Broome went down with an ankle injury and momentarily things seemed to be a little bleak. But the Tigers didn’t get the memo that the season would take a turn for the worse and took the next two games in Broome’s absence. Now Broome is back at full strength (he’s led Auburn in scoring in four straight games) and the Tigers are bludgeoning the competition. Which begs the question, “Can anyone stop the freight train that Bruce Pearl has engineered?”
For a moment, let’s review the Pearl era at Auburn. Pearl arrived in the 2014-15 season and after losing campaigns in his first two seasons, he has ushered the program to unprecedented heights. Under Pearl’s leadership, Auburn has won at least 20 games in seven seasons, with a high-water mark of 30 wins during the 2018-19 season en route to the program’s first Final Four appearance.
Auburn’s current winning streak of 14 games is the sixth longest streak in program history and the second longest streak since the Tigers won 19 straight during the 2021-22 season. The Tigers have won at least 21 games in seven out of the last eight seasons.
Not only is Pearl winning, he’s brought a level of excitement to the Plains that is evident every time the Tigers set foot on their home floor. Pearl’s group has now won 12 straight games at Neville Arena in Auburn and is 109-12 at home since the 2017-18 season. Auburn’s win over Oklahoma saw the 65th-straight sellout crowd at Neville, which holds a capacity of 9,121.
Auburn’s 9-0 conference record marks only the third time in program history that the team has won its first nine SEC games.
There’s been so much winning it’s often difficult to remember what Pearl’s teams have done. Don’t forget that earlier this season he led Auburn to its first Maui Invitational title with wins over No. 5 Iowa State (83-81), No. 12 North Carolina (85-72), and Memphis (90-76) in succession. Auburn became just the third school in conference history to capture a Maui Invitational championship.
Pearl has won two SEC regular season titles (2018, 2022) and two SEC tournament titles (2019, 2024) while at Auburn. He was named SEC Coach of the Year in 2022 (his third overall) and has led the Tigers to five NCAA tournament appearances.
If the wins continue, Auburn is likely to receive a No. 1 bid in the NCAA tournament for only the second time in school history. The Tigers’ first No. 1 seed came in 1999 under head coach Cliff Ellis.
Four of Pearl’s players have gone on to become first-round picks in the NBA Draft: Jabari Smith Jr. (3rd overall, Houston, 2022 NBA Draft), Walker Kessler (22nd overall, Memphis, 2022 NBA Draft), Isaac Okoro (5th Overall, Cleveland, 2020 NBA Draft), and Chuma Okeke (16th overall, Orlando, 2019 NBA Draft).
Pearl has done remarkable work over the last decade and elevated Auburn to one of the top basketball programs in the country. This year’s team has all the pieces to win a national title, and one has to believe that if Pearl’s teams keep knocking, one day the door will be opened for them. TG
