After a rough start to the season that had many writing them off, the Auburn Tigers have flipped the script in a big way. What once looked like a lost year under first-year head coach Steven Pearl is now shaping up to be one of the most compelling turnarounds in college basketball.
Let’s rewind for a moment. Auburn took some serious lumps in non-conference play-three of them, to be exact.
A 30-point drubbing by Michigan, a 29-point beatdown from Arizona, and an 88-60 loss to Purdue had fans wondering if this team would even sniff the postseason. Add in a season-ending injury to Emeka Opurum, and the outlook was bleak.
But here’s the thing about college basketball: the season doesn’t end in December.
Fast forward to now, and Auburn is sitting with the third-best conference record in the SEC. That’s not a typo. The Tigers are surging, and they’ve picked up quality wins along the way-most recently an 88-82 victory over Texas that showcased just how far this team has come.
National voices are starting to take notice. CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein pointed to Auburn’s wins over St.
John’s (neutral site), NC State, Arkansas, and Florida as résumé boosters that could carry weight come Selection Sunday. And he’s right-those aren’t just wins, they’re the kind of wins that age well.
Beating Florida in Gainesville? That’s no small feat.
Taking down a John Calipari-coached Arkansas team? That turns heads.
Rothstein also highlighted a broader shift in the SEC. For years, the league was top-heavy-Kentucky, Florida, and then everyone else.
Not anymore. This year, the conference is wide open, and Auburn is right in the thick of it.
And at the center of it all is Steven Pearl.
There was plenty of skepticism when Pearl took over the program from his father, Bruce. The early blowouts didn’t help, and some questioned whether this was a case of nepotism gone wrong. But Steven has answered the bell-and then some.
He’s not just managing games; he’s developing players. Keyshawn Hall has emerged as a legitimate wing scorer, showing star potential on both ends of the floor.
Kevin Overton and KeShawn Murphy have become reliable threats from beyond the arc, giving Auburn the kind of spacing and shooting that makes them dangerous in any matchup. And if Tahaad Pettiford finds his rhythm down the stretch?
Look out. This team could peak at exactly the right time.
What’s becoming clear is that Steven Pearl wasn’t just along for the ride in previous seasons-he was a key voice in the locker room, a motivator behind the scenes. Now, with the spotlight squarely on him, he’s proving he belongs.
There’s still a lot of basketball left to play. The SEC is a grind, and March always brings its own chaos. But Auburn has already done something special: they’ve turned doubt into belief, and they’ve done it with grit, development, and a first-year head coach who’s showing he’s more than ready for the moment.
The Tigers aren’t just back in the conversation-they’re building a case to be one of the most dangerous teams in the conference heading into the final stretch.