As Auburn athletic officials prepare for Saturday's BCS title celebration at Jordan-Hare Stadium, they have no plans for similar festivities in April.
The Tigers were projected to be the worst Southeastern Conference men's basketball team this winter and are on pace with a 7-10 overall record and an 0-3 league mark. Auburn's SEC foes have reached 30 points during the first half before the Tigers could score 10.
"The psyche is fragile anyway when you have such a youthful team, and when you get on a streak like this, it can compound," first-year Tigers coach Tony Barbee said Monday. "We've got to be mentally tough and persevere through these hard times, and we've talked about getting off to faster starts. Unfortunately, our offense the better part of the year has been an issue, so we've got to do a better job defensively if we want to stay in these games."
Auburn endured nonconference home losses to UNC-Asheville, Samford, Campbell and Presbyterian and is 315th out of 345 Division I teams in the Ratings Percentage Index rankings. The Tigers also rank 315th in returning experience from a season ago, as none of their starters averaged more than 2.8 points per game last year.
Junior guard Frankie Sullivan averaged 8.7 points per game a year ago but underwent knee surgery in July. He returned before Christmas and led the Tigers to a four-game winning streak, including an upset of Florida State on Jan. 3, but hasn't played a league game after his knee flared up.
"It's no coincidence we've gone on a three-game slide, because he means a lot to us," Barbee said.
Barbee's Tigers are unlikely to match the 14 victories compiled by Gene Chizik's football program, but that wouldn't be a first. Auburn's 13 wins in its undefeated football run of 2004 nearly eclipsed the 14-17 basketball Tigers of '04-05, and its 11 wins in the undefeated run of 1993 matched the 11-17 winter record.
The last time Auburn had more autumn victories was during the 1988-89 school year, when Pat Dye's Tigers went 10-2 and Sonny Smith's Tigers were 9-19.
Finishing issues
While Auburn can't start, Vanderbilt can't finish. At least not on the road.
The Commodores would be the only undefeated team in SEC play had they not lost a 14-point lead at South Carolina on Jan. 8 and a 17-point lead at Tennessee this past Saturday.
"If something happens once, you kind of write it off to a one-time occurrence," Vandy coach Kevin Stallings said. "When it happens twice, you start wondering if it's becoming a trend. It's one of those things you have to man up and fix.
"I think the bright spot for us is we're showing that we're capable of putting ourselves in position against good teams on the road, and if we continue to do that, we'll win some games."
Early comparisons
Former South Carolina guard Devan Downey led the SEC in scoring last season with 22.5 points per game and had a memorable effort in an upset of No. 1 Kentucky. Freshman Bruce Ellington, a 5-foot-9, 194-pounder from Moncks Corner, S.C., pleasantly reminded Gamecocks fans of Downey last Saturday by tallying 23 points, four rebounds and three assists in a 72-69 upset win at Florida.
Ellington leads the team with 15 points a game, 58 assists and 21 steals, but Gamecocks coach Darrin Horn is trying to avoid comparing the two.
"Devin was a special talent and had some very unique abilities and had an unbelievable career," Horn said, "and Bruce is a different kind of player who is trying to build his own career and be a big part of our program as well."
Odds and ends
According to Monday's RPI, Tennessee has played the nation's toughest schedule. ... Mississippi State sophomore forward Renardo Sidney, who fought a teammate during a tournament in Honolulu and briefly was suspended, will not be made available to the media all season, according to Bulldogs coach Rick Stansbury.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.
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