Auburn men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl, who guided the Tigers to an 18-14 record this season, flew Wednesday afternoon to Phoenix for the Final Four. Before Pearl left, he was a guest of “Press Row” on Chattanooga’s ESPN 105.1 FM.
Q: Is SEC basketball on its way back or is it already back after producing three Elite Eight teams?
A: “I think everybody knows that it’s on its way back, and I think this performance in the NCAA tournament shows that it is back. South Carolina was the third- or fourth-best team in our league, and for them to be making this run is somewhat improbable, but when you look at that roster and you look at how hard they play for Frank Martin, you can understand why. SEC basketball is definitely back.”
Q: Is the SEC/Big 12 Challenge a better gauge than the nonconference matchups in November and December?
A: “I think that challenge is terrific, and we needed to step up. Auburn finished 11th in the SEC, and we beat TCU at TCU, and TCU is now playing for the NIT championship. Tennessee finished 10th and beat Kansas State, which went to the NCAA tournament and won a game. It’s really, really good to see, and the other thing I’m really excited about is that we had the youngest league in the country.”