Steven Pearl Sets Auburn Tigers Coaching Record Despite Brutal Debut Season

The Auburn Tigers defeated the South Alabama Jaguars in the first game of the NIT, improving Auburn’s season record to 18-16. In doing so, head coach Steven Pearl set a new Auburn program record for wins by a head coach in his first season on the Plains.

Though many would claim that Pearl started with much more in his favor than any other coach in the program’s history, he still had to take over a team with just one returning contributor. He was also thrust into the role just weeks before the season after his father and former Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl suddenly announced his retirement.

Congrats, Coach 🫡 👏 pic.twitter.com/p4GZJGtf5s
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) March 18, 2026

Despite the difficult situation, Pearl still took over a team that had clear NCAA Tournament aspirations after securing the No. 1 overall seed in the Big Dance for 2025 and making a run to the Final Four in San Antonio before losing to the eventual national champions, the Florida Gators.

The early signs looked good for Pearl’s 2025-26 squad, as they started the season with a 7-2 record with a one-point loss to eventual two-Seed Houston in Birmingham and a blowout loss to future one-seed Michigan in the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas. As the season continued, it was clear that this year’s Auburn team had taken a slight step back, struggling to beat premier teams for the most part.

However, that does not mean Auburn had no quality wins.

Pearl’s team took down No. 14 St. John’s, decimated No. 15 Arkansas, took down tournament team NC State, and capped their resume with a win in Gainesville at eventual 1-Seed Florida, arguably the best win of the season by any team in college basketball.

After the win over the Gators, Auburn found itself sitting at 13-7 and in control of its own destiny for an NCAA Tournament berth. Unfortunately, the Tigers collapsed down the stretch, finishing the regular season 3-8, including a five-game losing skid that was punctuated with a loss to a Mississippi State team that finished in the bottom four of the SEC standings.

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The late-season struggles left Auburn at 16-15 entering the SEC Tournament, needing multiple wins to feel comfortable entering Selection Sunday. However, despite an opening round win in a rematch against Mississippi State, the Tigers collapsed again against Tennessee, giving up a 20-0 run in the second half to bow out of the tournament. The effort was not enough to secure an NCAA Tournament bid.

However, Auburn did accept a bid to the NIT as a 1-Seed, hosting one of the four regions of the Tournament. Despite concerns from the fan base about Auburn’s motivation, the Tigers came out and secured a 78-67 win to advance to the second round and give Pearl his record-breaking win.

Pearl and his team will attempt to continue to add to the win tally this weekend against Seattle U in the second round of the NIT. The game date has not yet been set, though it will be one of March 21 or 22 as Auburn tries to advance again on its home floor.