“Our league is prepared to make a run in March”- Auburn HC Bruce Pearl drops bold statement regarding SEC men's basketball’s success this season 

Bruce Pearl has plans to make a deep run with his Auburn team when March Madness kicks in. The coach believes that most SEC teams have top coaches who can surprise many at the NCAA Tournament.

After Auburn's SEC Tournament quarterfinal win over South Carolina on Friday, Pearl highlighted the strength of the teams in the conference:

“I don't know what the analytics say, but there are, like, four or five teams scoring 80 or above, right? Tennessee and Kentucky, Alabama — just incredible firepower on the offensive end.

"We're one of those teams scoring above 80. And yet we're the most athletic team in the country, so it's physical, and we defend," he added.

“I think our league is prepared to make a run in March. A bunch of us are. You saw a Mississippi State team beat a potential one-seed in Tennessee start to finish. They finished ninth in our league. Arkansas beat Duke at home, and finished 10th in our league.”

"We got some really good coaches in this league. I think that's sometimes a separator.”

Pearl has led Auburn to the NCAA Tournament in four of the past six seasons. The Tigers are on course to make it to the postseason again this year after finishing the regular season with a 24-7 record (13-5 in the conference).

The Tigers are continuing their strong run into the SEC Tournament. They crushed the South Carolina Gamecocks 86-55 in the quarterfinals to advance to the next stage.

Bruce Pearl's Auburn will face Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament final

Auburn Tigers HC Bruce Pearl

Bruce Pearl's fourth-seeded Auburn will lock horns with the ninth-seeded Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday, March 16, at Bridgestone Arena. The game will commence at 7 p.m. ET.

The Bulldogs defeated LSU in the opening round of the SEC Tournament before upsetting Tennessee, the regular-season champion. On Saturday, they'll have another tough battle against Auburn.