Whose Fault Is It? Bruce Pearl Raises Doubts as Auburn Faces Tougher Than Ever!
Bruce Pearl says Auburn's "toughest schedule in the country" wasn't rewarded after the Tigers missed the NCAA Tournament bracket in 2026:
Former Auburn coach Bruce Pearl, now an analyst with CBS Sports, said the Tigers weren't rewarded for their strength of schedule after being left out of the NCAA Tournament field on Selection Sunday. Pearl, who led Auburn to the No. 1 overall seed last season before retiring and handing off the duties to his son, Steven Pearl, also questioned SMU's resume as a Last Four In team.
He said Oklahoma and Auburn , the first two teams out of the bracket, could've been deserving of a bit. "Auburn beat three champions this year," Pearl said during the bracket reveal. "They beat Florida, they beat St.
John's and they beat Arkansas. They played the toughest schedule in the country; don't know they were rewarded for it. It's hard to get a couple more SEC teams in when the SEC already has 10 teams in.
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