“I’m more of a 12 seed guy”: Auburn HC Bruce Pearl gets candid after 1st seed; looks forward to facing Duke, Houston and more

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl didn’t hold back after learning that his team earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Reflecting on Auburn’s path to the top, Pearl spoke about the Tigers’ tough schedule and their previous games against some of the best teams in the country.

Pearl acknowledged the high expectations of being a top seed but remained focused on the challenge ahead, he stated,

“We’re going to take it one game at a time. These are the highest goals I think I’ve ever had heading into the NCAA Tournament. I’m more of a 12-seed guy in my whole career than I am a 1-seed.”

The Tigers will begin their tournament run in Lexington, Kentucky, as the top seed in the South Regional. They will face either Alabama State or Saint Francis on Thursday. Auburn will take on the winner of the 8-seed Louisville vs. 9-seed Creighton matchup on Saturday if they advance.

“It allows us to say that our goal is to win the national championship. It allows us to say that if we don’t win the national championship, we’ll be disappointed as a number one seed,” Pearl said.

Auburn earns No. 1 Seed after strong season

The Tigers have made just four Sweet 16 appearances, two Elite Eights, and one Final Four in their program's history. However, this season turned out to be one of their most dominant. Auburn played 24 of their 33 games against teams that made the NCAA Tournament.

Auburn faced all three other No. 1 seeds, Duke, Houston, and Florida along with the top two No. 2 seeds, Tennessee and Alabama. In total, the Tigers played nine of the top 14 overall seeds and 10 of the top 20.

According to KenPom, Auburn’s overall strength of schedule ranked second nationally. The Tigers also faced the second-toughest average collection of offenses and defenses throughout the season.

Auburn’s side of the bracket features several familiar opponents, adding intrigue to their tournament journey.

“It’s been a long time since we played Houston and Duke. Which teams have gotten better? We’ll find out. We recognize that and I have been saying this for a while Florida right now, to me, looks like they’re playing the best basketball of anybody in the country,” Pearl said.

Auburn will open its NCAA Tournament campaign against Alabama State or Saint Francis on Thursday at 1:50 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on CBS.