Auburn's Bruce Pearl in second tier of college basketball coach rankings

In a recent article released by The Athletic ($), Dana O'Neil and Brian Hamilton detail a tier list of college basketball coaches, with seven tiers (eight if you count tier 2B) narrowed down to coaches that fit a specific criteria (coaches from Power Six schools, any coach from a non-power conference who has been to the NCAA Tournament or won a regular-season conference title in the last three years, etc.)

Auburn's Bruce Pearl (166-97 overall with the Tigers) can be found in tier 2A of the list, just on the outskirts of the top coaches in college basketball.

Tier 1 consists of John Calipari (Kentucky), Mark Few (Gonzaga), Kelvin Sampson (Houston), Bill Self (Kansas), Scott Drew (Baylor), Tom Izzo (Michigan State), Rick Pitino (Iona), and Tony Bennett (Virginia).

According to an agent, Pearl is no different from Kelvin Sampson, and if an argument can be made for Purdue's Matt Painter to make the top tier, then Pearl should get a shot as well.

"'Kelvin has done a great job, but is he any different than Pearl?' an agent asked The Athletic. Well, Pearl has won nearly 67 percent of his games with 11 NCAA Tournament bids and one Final Four appearance. Sampson has won 67 percent of his games with 18 NCAA Tournament bids and one Final Four. Eye of the beholder stuff."

Auburn basketball tips off their 2022-23 season on November 2nd against Alabama-Huntsville.

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