Auburn Wasted Chance to Prove Itself Worthy of NCAA Tournament Against Tennessee

The Tigers had its chance to punch its NCAA Tournament ticket against the Volunteers

Auburn coach Steven Pearl has a dialogue with his player against Tennessee during their Day 2 2026 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament game at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 12, 2026. / DENNY SIMMONS / THE TENNESSEAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Everything was there for the Auburn Tigers to prove it was worthy of an NCAA Tournament spot.

Bubble teams have been losing left and right during conference tournament week, and the selection committee must get 68 teams in the field somehow. After a comeback win over Mississippi State on Wednesday, Auburn was staring down Tennessee in the SEC Tournament.

A victory over the Volunteers would not have guaranteed a spot in March Madness, but it would have made life a little bit more comfortable for Steven Pearl’s team on Selection Sunday.

And it looked like the Tigers were playing basketball like it did in November and December.

Auburn led by as many as 11 points in the first half and held a 10-point advantage with 10:26 remaining before the flood gates opened.

Following a Tahaad Pettiford jumper, Tennessee rattled off a 20-0 run that took the Volunteers from down ten to up ten and essentially iced the game. Auburn’s scoreless drought lasted nearly seven minutes, missing seven shots in the stretch.

The Tigers have now lost 9-of-12 games to close the season and sit at 17-16 with no more games to play until the selection show and no 16-loss team has ever earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

“If you look at our résumé, if you compare us to the rest of the teams on the bubble…we deserve to be in the tournament,” Steven Pearl said after the loss.

“If we're going to look at six teams on the bubble right now, Texas, SMU, VCU, Miami Ohio, Missouri, New Mexico, we have more Top 25 NET wins than everyone in that group but Missouri. We have more Top 50 wins than everyone in that group,” he continued.

“We have two Top 25 road neutral wins, more than everyone else on the bubble. We have more wins over the projected field than anyone else on the bubble. If you look at the major metrics that they use -- NET, KenPom, KPI, Strength of Record, and Wins Above the Bubble -- we are better than every team in that group in at least five out of the seven categories, and in a couple of them six of the seven.”

Of the teams that Pearl mentioned, four have already lost in its conference tournaments and debate is raging on about who will be selected for the NCAA Tournament.

Auburn nice wins on its resume but it doesn’t look anything like a tournament team at the moment. At best it feels like the Tigers will be in Dayton while at worst they’ll be sitting at home.